#ha2017

[existingcharactersdiehorribly]

Fearing he may be exposed may have spurred him into action.

[mischallany]

So recently I wrote a paper for my class responding to Jeff Casey’s “Queer Cannibals and Deviant Detectives: Subversion and Homosocial Desire in NBC’s Hannibal”. I’m not going to go into a lot of detail about the general paper here, but basically I argued how Hannibal and Will can represent a canonical romantic relationship even though they didn’t follow the “traditional rules of canon”, which I defined, for the purpose of confirming a relationship to be canonically romantic, as requiring the couple to: declare their romantic love for each other, kiss, or have sex.

I argued that Hannibal includes enough scenes evoking romantic and sexual tropes (through subtext) that a deliberate pattern becomes evident for the purpose of showing the intensification of Hannibal and Will’s relationship, proving the overarching vision of the show (since Season 2) to be ultimately romantic, and allowing for their canonical but implicit romantic relationship to exist.  

I think the ortolan scene gets mentioned a lot for being intensely sexual, but I analyzed this scene as part of a larger pattern in the show, arguing that the show uses a series of private dinners between Hannibal and Will to evoke common romantic tropes and slowly develop and elevate their relationship. The first such romantic dinner scene I refer to is the one at the end of 2.10 “Naka-Choko”, after Will has provided “Freddie Lound’s” meat for Hannibal to cook for him. An analysis of this scene is what I wanted to do in this post.

Right off the bat, bringing sustenance home for dinner for another person to cook evokes certain tropes about family, and providing for the family. Then, Hannibal says “I’ll make you lomo saltado. We’ll make it together.” The preparation of a private meal together once again invokes romantic tropes.

The dinner scene begins with classical music playing in the background. The first time I heard it, I thought—this is really light, airy, pretty music, and not out of place for a romantic setting. @hannibalsmusic identified it as Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 5, the fourth movement Adagietto, which is an extremely significant choice. Reporter Gilbert Kaplan wrote for the New York Times that “For Mahler, the piece was a simple expression of love. The Adagietto served as a love letter from the composer to Alma Schindler, probably shortly before they were married in 1902. The Dutch conductor Willem Mengelberg, in his personal copy of the Fifth Symphony, wrote: ‘This Adagietto was Gustav Mahler’s declaration of love for Alma! Instead of a letter, he sent her this in manuscript form; no other words accompanied it. She understood and wrote to him: He should come!!! (both of them told me this!).’ Mengelberg’s own description of the Adagietto was ‘love, a love comes into his life.’” (Source) That the show chose to utilize a song written as a love song from the composer to his future wife is certainly telling; even without having any classical music background or knowledge myself, I immediately associated what I heard with romance.

The opening shot of this scene pans up from a dinner plate to a close-up of Will’s face. The lighting is dark, private and intimate, but light from the fireplace flickers against his cheek. The lighting and function of the flickering fire recalls to mind imagery of a candlelit dinner, invoking another romantic trope for the audience to recognize.

Then, there is a cut to an extreme close-up shot of Will’s mouth as he takes a bite of his food. Similarly to the ortolan scene, this extreme close-up invokes a moment of sensuality and intimacy, elevating the intensity of the pair’s interactions. Personally, it was important to me to note that this scene only employed one extreme close-up compared to the ortolan scene (which went insane). This scene is a lot more subdued, keeping the tone firmly rooted in “romance” rather than “sex”, and because the ortolan scene comes after it, near the beginning of the next episode, the ortolan scene can be considered an extension and intensification of this one.

The camera returns to a front-view close-up of Will’s face as he looks up directly into the camera, although in the scene he is looking up at Hannibal. In that moment, the audience has been transformed into Hannibal, and the previous attention payed so closely to Will is understood to be from his perspective. And as already analyzed, he pays very very close attention to Will.

Will makes a pun that “The meat is bitter… about being dead”, and they smile at each other. (This is one of my favorite cannibal puns in the show, because Will makes it of his own initiative. We watched this scene in class and I took great delight in explaining the pun to my class.) Their dialogue may not be overtly romantic, but their sharing of secrets and the mutual unspoken understanding indicate a level of intimacy that has not been afforded to any other person in their lives. The pair’s eyes flicker downwards in movements of shyness or thoughtfulness, another visual trope often seen during meal scenes between romantic couples.

Finally, the camera moves to a high angle shot above the dining table; its two patrons take a simultaneous bite of food, showing the equality in their relationship, as they have moved past previous tumultuous interactions to reach a harmonious peace with each other. Now, the reality of this “peace” is a lot more dubious, since Will is in fact deliberately attempting to get closer to Hannibal in order to trap him, but the way that the latter half of Season 2 is filmed purposely and most definitely brings into question Will’s actual state of mind and compliance as he committed a variety of morally grey actions. Did he genuinely enjoy this dinner in Hannibal’s presence? I would argue so.

(Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use.)

[magratpudifoot]

On the thirty-ninth day of Hannibal Advent 2017, it’s a finale! (At least for now!)

GummiHannibal 313--The Wrath of the Lamb

I’ll leave both this and the previous GummiHannibal episode up through Christmas, in case anyone wants to watch them. Happy Hannidays, y’all :)

GummiHannibal 312--The Number of the Beast Is 666

[existingcharactersdiehorribly]

It’s why you feel as though a lion were on the verge of devouring you.

[existingcharactersdiehorribly]

Abigail is lost, too.

[existingcharactersdiehorribly]

Why were you so tenacious?

[existingcharactersdiehorribly]

Join us for the Fourth Annual Hannibal Advent! 

Hannibal Advent is a celebration of the Hannibal verse! All you have to do to participate is post something between November 16 and December 24 and tag it with the HannibalAdvent tag! Simple! [Here’s the FAQ if you want to know more]

Gif sets, drabbles, fics, manips, meta, crack, favorite quotes—whatever you want to give to your fellow fannibals as a Hannibal Advent gift!

Post one day, post every third day, post every day - whatever works for you.

Once again this year we’re running 39 days - one per episode. But don’t feel constrained. It’s the thought that counts! 

The books and movies are welcome and encouraged!

Can’t wait to see what everybody has in store! And be sure to keep an eye on the HannibalAdvent tag to see what gifts your fellow fannibals have in store!

[existingcharactersdiehorribly]

The 2017 Hannibal Advent is nigh! Here’s some answers to frequently asked questions!

What is Hannibal Advent?

A fannibal celebration of the Hannibal ‘verse! A chance for us to give each other the gift of lots of wonderful posts!

How Do I Participate?

Make a post about Hannibal between November 16 and December 24. Tag it with #HannibalAdvent.

Voilà! You are a participant!

What should I post?

Whatever you want! It can be short or long! It can be art, fic, gifs, AUs, manips, crack, ships, favorite quotes, pic spams, meta, your favorite scene, “I LOVE HANNIBAL”, anything!

Anything you want to give to your fellow fannibals as a Hannibal Advent gift is the perfect thing to post for HannibalAdvent!  

Why November 16 - December 24?

We took a vote, and decided this year HannibalAdvent would run for 39 days, one per episode! The calendar is here!

Do I have to post about the episode of the day?

No! It’s just a suggestion in case you need ideas! Anything goes on any day! It’s the thought that counts!

Does it only have to be NBC Hannibal?

No way! Post about the books, the movies, your AU, your head canons, your Spacedogs, Strangepaths, and Tristhad. Clannibal, Bedannibal, your dreams for season 4 and beyond!

Whatever inspires you to post - please post!

Do I have to post every day?

Of course not! It’s a busy time of year. Some of us will do every day. Some one day. Most somewhere between. We’re just glad to have you!

Do I have to have a Tumblr?

No! The more the merrier!

Please use the #HannibalAdvent tag on Twitter and Facebook, too! That’s why we’re using one without the space! Best to have an outpouring of Hannibal love all over the internet!

What’s the rating for this event?

No restrictions, just tag content appropriately, as we know you would anyway!