lost in the people sauce

LIVE ARCHIVE OF HANNIBAL BRAINROT. MY IDEAS & OTHER PEOPLE'S AWESOME STUFF. FEEL FREE TO USE ANY OF MY IDEAS; DO WHATEVER YOU WANT FOREVER

[hannibalmoth]

do you ever think about what will's life was like pre-canon? what was his morning routine, how did he spend his time? did he have a favourite class to teach, a favourite student? what books did he read? what did he think about, at night all alone?

[reggiexst4r]

hannibal's internal monologue

[hannibalmoth]

do you ever think about what will's life was like pre-canon? what was his morning routine, how did he spend his time? did he have a favourite class to teach, a favourite student? what books did he read? what did he think about, at night all alone?

[willgrahamcracker2013]

gay test

[hannibalmoth]

was it ever actually explained how will got encephalitis in the first place? or was it just another "you gotta accept this, man, just trust us" situation like how hannibal supposedly crawled around in the sewer system

[flock-of-cassowaries]

I always figured Hannibal just got lucky and took advantage of the situation. At one point, they mention that it’s specifically an autoimmune type of encephalitis (anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis) which is not something that an external agent could reliably trigger. (The wikipedia indicates that the only known risk factor is ovarian teratoma; trans!Will enthusiasts, take note.)

I really liked that Will’s condition was autoimmune, rather than externally induced, because - walk with me here - it echoes Hannibal’s betrayal of Will.

Why would you do this to me, Dr. Lecter immune system?? I thought your job was to protect me.

The writing here isn’t super-consistent - if I recall correctly,  someone refers to Will being treated with antivirals, which would be ineffective against that type encephalitis - but it being autoimmune also has really interesting implications with regards to Hannibal’s bougie chicken soup.

[Soup Discourse]

Many of the soup ingredients Hannibal lists off - ginseng and star anise, for example - are reputed immune boosters, which, if your immune system is the root of the problem, is perhaps not ideal.

Now, realistically, those ingredients are not going to be any match for what corticosteroids (an anti-inflammatory that is the first-line treatment for brain inflammation in encephalitis, and which also has strong immunosuppressant properties) would do.

But Hannibal has already mentioned (to the late Dr. Sutcliffe) that he has identified the exact type of encephalitis Will has as being autoimmune; so the soup being an immune-booster feels like a mean little private joke that Hannibal is making to himself, at Will’s expense. Which seems like the kind of thing he would do, because he does find himself funny:

Ha ha, Cannibal Man.

…but it also gives interesting context to Hannibal’s reaction in this exchange:

It’s like Hannibal didn’t quite realize how touched Will would be to be brought soup, and also didn’t expect Will’s gratitude at being taken care of to feel so meaningful. It feels like the first time he second-guesses his general plan to effectively ruin Will’s life, and for a moment, Hannibal seems almost human.

(You know, until he course-corrects and merrily resumes murdering people.)

I can’t take credit for the chicken soup observation (it’s something I read a while ago either on here or on reddit), but the ‘autoimmune disease as betrayal by a theoretically protective entity’ angle is something I’d thought a lot about before ever watching Hannibal. Which is probably why it hit so hard for me.

[Back to Hannibal-as-the-personification of the self-attacking Immune System]

(cw for medical system-related horror)

I have an autoimmune disease that attacks the spine and brain, and whose diagnosis and treatment modus are similar to what a patient with autoimmune encephalitis would get - MRI for primary diagnosis, followed by immediate IV corticosteroids to reduce inflammation; and then a selective immunosuppressant - the standard is rituximab for encephalitis, and I take that drug’s biosimilar cousin, ocrelizumab, for multiple sclerosis.

There are differences - multiple sclerosis is chronic, whereas autoimmune encephalitis tends to be something where if you give the immune system a dose or two of anti-cd20 drugs, it gets the hint, and the next crop of B-cells to exit the bone marrow are programmed to leave the brain the hell alone (not sure how that works, but— awesome); also, multiple sclerosis is orders of magnitude less immediately dangerous than encephalitis, and generally doesn’t cause psychosis unless you’re really far along and really unlucky.

But during the weeks and months after I was diagnosed with MS, I felt profoundly shaken, and the thought that I kept coming back to was that my brain and my spine were being attacked by the very system that was supposed to protect me. It just felt so absurd.

I also really related to Will’s simmering panic about his worsening condition in s1. Hugh Dancy did an excellent job of evoking that - especially in the scenes where Will insists to Hannibal that something is wrong, only to be assured it’s all in his imagination and that nothing is physically wrong with him. In my case, no one intended to harm me, but I had that exact conversation dozens of times, with friends, family, and doctors.

I can also relate to the shock and betrayal Will felt, because - while no one intended to harm me - the first neurologist I saw did really fuck up. (He failed to send along any MRI results, so everyone just assumed they were negative for signs of MS; I had to change family doctors around that time, and records were still paper, so I think the new doctor thought the sheet with the results just got lost.)

Finding out that I should have been diagnosed much earlier, and would have if not for someone else’s negligence, was really painful; I was having a lot of problems physically, and it was hard to assess how much of it would be permanent. Again, I don’t think it was on purpose, but this was a serious medical fuck-up (my new neurologists all encouraged me to file a complaint with the licensing board), and I felt extremely let down by and somewhat angry about that first neurologist’s failure to even fax the results of a test that was so important.

(Licensing Board found in my favour, and made him take a course in records management. I presume he’ll never screw up in that way again.)

So yeah… #1 Will’s Encephalitis Arc Enjoyer. It was like seeing my own terrible experience, except dramatized as toxic yaoi.

[fan-person-forevernever]

THIS IS FUCKING CRAZY!!!! What a GREAT analysis, thank you so much for sharing! Damn!!

[hannibalmoth]

Holy shit!

[hannibalmoth]

was it ever actually explained how will got encephalitis in the first place? or was it just another "you gotta accept this, man, just trust us" situation like how hannibal supposedly crawled around in the sewer system

[shutteredteacup]

It wasn't, afaik it's just smth Fuller made up for the show. But I LOVE thinking he got it from the Protein Dinner™ sometimes, which is not true but makes the plot more interesting. Tho the most common cause could be overian tumor, and just the fact it is often misdiagnosed as mental illness like schizophrenia.

[hannibalmoth]

was it ever actually explained how will got encephalitis in the first place? or was it just another "you gotta accept this, man, just trust us" situation like how hannibal supposedly crawled around in the sewer system

[hannibalmoth]

freddie lounds was lowkey the protagonist of hannibal nbc

[hannibalmoth]

hannigram au where you are born knowing your soulmate’s future biggest secret.

will has known his whole life about the "Chesapeake Ripper"-- the serial killer identity of his soulmate. he's had his time to come to terms with it. to accept that he will never be normal; but nor will his soulmate.

and so the first time the name shows up in the papers-- the first time his soulmate's kills appear as glossy exclusives on tattlecrime.com-- will makes goddamn sure that he's the first one assigned to investigate the case.

[laughableconcept]

Picturing something like the soulmate's words written on your arm type thing, but instead it's a news headline, like, Chesapeake Ripper Strikes Again, or something. It would have to be more than just Chesapeake Ripper, I could see Will playing the denial game with what those two words might mean.

Definitely want to see how knowing he's got a serial killer for a soulmate altered the course of his development. Or maybe it doesn't? Maybe he only tells himself he's come to some resolution about it. Maybe he's resolved to do the right thing by turning in his soulmate to prove he can be a good person. But faced with the reality of it, finds himself going in another direction entirely.

Also scratching my head wondering what Hannibal's got about Will.

FBI Bloodhound? FBI Turncoat? It Takes One to Catch One? Or maybe it's just, Murder Husbands at Large in Argentina.

Will has to come to terms with his words, have a whole revelation and character arc about it, while Hannibal's out there just living his best life, feeling secure about what the future holds for him.

[grahamsmutt]

hannibal just gets turned on my calling will 'sir' and do not tell me otherwise

[whydoihavetoart]

didn't I?

[livingdeadlogan]

Hey look I finished it :3

Keep an eye out for prints soon 👀

[karvviie]

hey best friend let’s see those molars

[feralforestgoblinn]

Back on my T4T Hannigram shenanigans

Full version on Patreon <3

[willgrahaminpain]

[alenalustra]

Will Graham <3

[vi0lentquiche]

Bryan Fuller Wrote DUST BUNNY Role SPECIFICALLY for Mads Mikkelsen

Bryan Fuller sat down to talk to Nerdist about Dust Bunny and his deep friendship with star Mads Mikkelsen, for whom he wrote the role.

aw 🥺

[gisellefr0mhell]