Will's Insight | Opt-In Post

[empathicfault]

In the series Hannibal, Will Graham is shown to have a unique ability- he calls it 'interpreting the evidence', whereas Hannibal calls it 'pure empathy'. It lets Will know what the people around him are feeling, often to Will's detriment. Will frequently appears to be overstimulated by the outside world, slumping in chairs and avoiding eye contact. He finds comfort in dogs and being alone.

However, this ability can often be extremely useful for determining motivations, desires, and fears. When he uses it at crime scenes, the series shows murders taking place as if Will were the culprit. He sees fantastical visions and metaphorical imagery as he places himself in his target's place, seeing the world as they see it.

I'd like to write out some of this imagery in narration as I roleplay, but I also don't want to infomod. So if you are interested in letting Will into knowing your character through this ability, please reply here.

What I'd like to know (feel free to copy+paste, or just write out what you'd like)--
<b>1. What would you like him to be able to suss out about your character? </b> He works in emotions, so fears, desires, motivations, immediate wants, all that sort of thing is good. <b>2. Is there a character trait or emotion you absolutely do NOT want brought up?</b> Will isn't magic and he's not always right with this ability. It's easy to veer off of any topic you might want to avoid. <b>3. Is there any visual imagery you associate with your character, and/or is there anything specifically that you'd like Will to visualize?</b> Sometimes he sees things that don't seem to make a whole lot of sense until later- I tend to interpret that as him integrating evidence that he hasn't logically noticed yet. <b>4. Any plot threads or development you'd like to actually get going through this mechanic?</b> Let me know, I'd love to plan with you! Will could be a good way to weasel info or feelings out of someone who would otherwise keep them hidden, if that's something you'd like. I'm also very happy to just see where things go.

Thanks, and please let me know if there's anything else you'd like me to know or talk over with you.

Comments

[citizendetective]

1. What would you like him to be able to suss out about your character? If she's very cheerful and upbeat, she's probably not being genuine, though this disingenuousness has a variety of potential causes: wanting to throw the other person off, trying to make herself look likable, and trying to present herself he way she believes other people want to see her (either for malicious reasons or benign ones) are common. When she is being genuine, she's generally more subdued and serious. She wants to be well-liked and well-respected, but doesn't like or respect very many people herself, and believes people to be largely cruel on the whole. She's an extremely angry person, though she's a little pressure cooker who keeps it bottled up until she explodes. She's slowly been working on untangling all of this, but still struggles mightily with all of it.

2. Is there a character trait or emotion you absolutely do NOT want brought up? Nope!

3. Is there any visual imagery you associate with your character, and/or is there anything specifically that you'd like Will to visualize? Nothing immediately jumps to mind (and I'm not familiar enough to know how his imagery works in canon), but always feel free to come up with your own stuff based on threads!

4. Any plot threads or development you'd like to actually get going through this mechanic? She's an inmate who desperately needs to keep working on everything mentioned in #1; I have no idea what Will's approach towards her would be or if he'd help her, have a neutral effect, or make her worse, but I am excited to find out! I'm always here to play things by ear.

[empathicfault]

Thank you! There's definite parts of her personality that Will is going to relate to (not respecting or liking people in general, especially), and I can see him picking up on a lot of this. Visuals aren't super necessary or anything, but yeah- I'll see if anything comes up!

Also, Will has had a look at her inmate ledger during that last flood and picked up on a few things- no boundaries, loves a good mystery, and can become violent. He sees her as possibly useful to him down the line and is sort of testing the waters at the moment. Of course, if he does open up and they talk to each other, they might actually be helpful to each other? So I'm not really sure where it'd go either, but it should be interesting to see!

[riseunparalleled]

1. What would you like him to be able to suss out about your character? Xie Lian generally is very calm, even more under the surface, though he's generally pretty calm externally, too. He's very much at peace with himself, and is generally unshaken by anything in the sense of 'immediate wants'. When he does feel something else, it's with extreme intensity. He's mostly motivated by trying to treat people well, kindness is very important to him.

2. Is there a character trait or emotion you absolutely do NOT want brought up? Nothing I can think of.

3. Is there any visual imagery you associate with your character, and/or is there anything specifically that you'd like Will to visualize? Xie Lian has a connection with flowers, butterflies, statues, and age, but age in the sense of a pool of water or a tree.

4. Any plot threads or development you'd like to actually get going through this mechanic? Always happy just to see where things go.

[empathicfault]

Yep, Xie Lian definitely sounds like he'd present to Will like a very still, peaceful pond, a whole setting that settled and unchanging. I can have fun with that, thanks!

[cactusy]

1. What would you like him to be able to suss out about your character? Her emotions are, as a general rule, muted all to hell. They exist (though she, unreliable narrator of her own life that she is, will say that they don't), but they're buried deep and hard for her to access. Anger is by far her most accessible emotion, and even that doesn't always show up when one might expect it to. She's currently very depressed and very much grieving a loss (neither of which she fully realizes), and she doubts her own reality and struggles with paranoia related to that (which she realizes all too well). While it's very easy (and understandable!) to mistake her for the type of person who actively represses and fears their own emotions, this isn't actually her: not being able to access, interpret, or recognize her feelings is a genuine issue that she has, not a front that she puts on. Ultimately, it's not true that she has no feelings, but she still honestly believes it to be true when she says it.

2. Is there a character trait or emotion you absolutely do NOT want brought up? Nope!

3. Is there any visual imagery you associate with your character, and/or is there anything specifically that you'd like Will to visualize? Nothing immediately jumps to mind (and I'm not familiar enough to know how his imagery works in canon), but always feel free to come up with your own stuff based on threads!

4. Any plot threads or development you'd like to actually get going through this mechanic? I find the way her emotional landscape works really fascinating, and am always up for delving into that! I said this on plurk already, but I could see her muted emotions potentially being a relief for Will.

[empathicfault]

I definitely think he could find some solace in the 'quiet' around her. I've got a good idea of what his visuals for Shaw would be- lots of plastic sheets draped over everything. You can see a shape of something she cares about, but no details. Or something like that- I'll have more detail when I actually write it out.

Will's probably not going to push on her when she claims she doesn't have feelings, but he knows there's something there. He might try to eventually poke at that.

[abrightboy]

1. What would you like him to be able to suss out about your character? It's pretty well established in Prodigal Son that Malcolm is sort of in a constant fear response in a lot of ways. While he is genuinely afraid of Martin Whitly most of the time, he is more afraid of what he, himself, is capable of and being (or being seen as) the same as the Surgeon. He also has a crush on Shaw right now as an embarrassing aside.

2. Is there a character trait or emotion you absolutely do NOT want brought up? Not at all. Do your worst. Best. Bestworst.

3. Is there any visual imagery you associate with your character, and/or is there anything specifically that you'd like Will to visualize? When Malcolm was hiding the Endicott murder his sister committed, he would see himself smiling maniacally in reflective surfaces. He also often has nightmares that involve being trapped in his father's prison cell, either with his father or in his place.

4. Any plot threads or development you'd like to actually get going through this mechanic? I don't know right now but I will def keep it in mind.

[empathicfault]

So there's a lot to work with here. Malcolm is someone who Will is probably going to tangle his own issues up with the most, for obvious reasons. So I wouldn't be surprised if he also mixes in his imagery with Malcolm's.

He accepted the offer of therapy because he's evaluating Malcolm and basically trying to use him to compare and contrast. So he might press harder on that fear response and see what he gets. Should be interesting to see where they end up together.

[empathicfault]

Thanks! I love the imagery you've linked to and will definitely be using some of it- it fits extremely well with the Hannibal aesthetic in the first place.

I think Will would also recognize the good in Reid, probably in a 'wow, I used to think I was like that' sort of way, because he's melodramatic like that. I don't think he'll figure out the vampire thing. He's far too used to human monsters, and so predatory instincts/problems don't make him immediately think of the supernatural. Looking forward to when they bump into each other!

[greatoldjohn]

1. What would you like him to be able to suss out about your character? So first of all, John? Not in any way, shape, or form human. He very often shares a body with Arthur Lester (lestercraft) and Will can definitely notice when John is in Arthur or not (there is a golden shine behind his eyes, like a cats), and it's obvious that 'Arthur' can see in that case whereas he is entirely blind and his left forearm/hand is completely lifeless otherwise. Arthur also has to deal with John's voice in his head when they're combined and Arthur will sometimes take a little long to answer while John gives him visual information... or snarks at him, poor man. By himself, John is a pallid mask and a set of robes that may change color or texture but not much for cut with a shadowy arm that mimics Arthur's left one for his use. His voice is very expressive but there's literally nothing to pick up physically from him. That said, John is super alien in a lot of ways. He is, in fact, a fractured piece of a Great Old one of the Lovecraft mythos (the 'heart' in fact) of Hastur the Unspeakable/the King in Yellow, god of madness and corruption who goes after the theatre kids tends to focus on artists and crafters and actors and musicians (of which Arthur happens to be one), kind of inspiring that place between madness and obsession (or madness and inspiration). That said, he si trying REALLY REALLY HARD to be a person, to be human, and he also has a massive amount of empathy and wonder at the world and beautiful things and Cares Way Too Much. On a much more mundane note: he's a grumpy curmudgeon who doesn't have a lot of experience with Normal Things so sometimes he has trouble with that. Bonus: any art or knitting he makes has a tendency to make people feel a little dizzy and disoriented.

2. Is there a character trait or emotion you absolutely do NOT want brought up? Nope! Go wild.

3. Is there any visual imagery you associate with your character, and/or is there anything specifically that you'd like Will to visualize? Yellow, encroaching darkness, things not being what they're supposed to be, people not acting the way they're supposed to, the song "You Call It Madness, But I Call It Love", tentacles, things that are lost, poetry, plays, the King in Yellow, the Dreamlands, eyes (he has Arthur's and Arthur's are 'only for him'), cannibalism (involuntary), cults, someone .

4. Any plot threads or development you'd like to actually get going through this mechanic? So... obviously this could be interesting or unfortunate for Will depending on how things go, but there is a fun and interesting little quirk to Arthur and John, namely that if they touch a corpse, they get to see how that person died. This got Really Really unfortunate during the involuntary cannibalism. But hey! Bond ing? Also his own 'partner' is occasionally a murderous gremlin, HE has been a murderous gremlin... they get it.

[empathicfault]

I could see Will being extremely intrigued by John, just considering it's one of those things he never considered a possibility of happening to someone. I think he'll pick up very quickly just how inhuman John is. The imagery is (unsurprisingly for something Lovecraftian) very easy to play with.

And oof on the involuntary cannibalism. Bonding indeed. Looking forward to him and Will talking sometime, seeing where that goes!

[lone_horse]

1. What would you like him to be able to suss out about your character?
He's a career criminal (yakuza), a big guy who absolutely could fuck you up... and he is incredibly kind and safe and gentle. He ran an orphanage and his biggest ambitions are to look out for those that society would cast off, especially kids who don't have prospects. He has a pretty thick Japanese accent from the Tokyo area, he's incredibly genuine, and while he's got street smarts, he's not super smart or anything. He's really excited by stuff he finds fascinating or interesting and he tries his best to live and let live. But despite whatever crazy shit he says, he's probably being serious. He does have a wry and subtle sense of humor and you're 100% welcome to pick up on his facial expressions properly even though they present as different flavors of Stern Bitch Face. Orphaned. Raised by an assassin in an orphanage. Lost a LOT of people over the years. Both a dad and a granddad. Also spent about 13 years in jail, not too hard to figure out.

2. Is there a character trait or emotion you absolutely do NOT want brought up? Nope!

3. Is there any visual imagery you associate with your character, and/or is there anything specifically that you'd like Will to visualize? Asian dragons, fire (blue, white, pink, yellow), the colors grey and deep red, a beach in Okinawa, the district of Kamurocho, children.

4. Any plot threads or development you'd like to actually get going through this mechanic? Kiryu's just a big fighty crime dad and if Will wants someone with warm protective energy who won't push or make him talk about stuff and is usually pretty content to just be quiet and supportive, he might be helpful.

[empathicfault]

Will's going to pick up on Kiryu's genuine-ness, for sure. He might even be confused by it, because Kiryu is so much that way. If Will ever gets to the point where he can actually accept even non-pushy help, I can see him reaching out to or leaning on Kiryu.

[empathicfault]

The whole 'intense sense of justice' and 'vindictive' parts of John here are going to really relate to Will- he's recently gone really hard on both of them (instead of the usual 'only the first one').

The imagery is going to be familiar to Will, but hey- it's usually not attached to a single person! (also, barbie doll!) I could easily see these two commiserating over being Done and swapping Fed Up With This World stories.

[madaboutit]

1. What would you like him to be able to suss out about your character? On first pass, Sweeney is a very easy read: he’s exceptionally damaged, and it manifests in volatile responses. He fights, fucks, and drinks to drown out the pain of his sins and loneliness. He’s very blunt and straightforward, willing to talk about pretty much anything other than himself. He is big into compartmentalization, but he’s finally starting to crack after being onboard so long, and it’s getting harder to do. Generally speaking, he pushes people away when he starts to feel like he's getting too close to them.

He was trapped into service to Mr. Wednesday/Grimnir/Odin and was forced to kill Laura Moon (recently arrived on the Barge). She was accidentally reanimated by his Lucky Coin, leaving him with Bad Luck. He spent a lot of time trying to get her actually alive again so he could get his Coin/Luck back, falling in love with her on the way (even though it went unrealized by either of them). Her arrival has brought up a lot of really complicated feelings that he is putting extra effort into avoiding.

On closer inspection, something is very off about him. He’s not human, though he passes easily. He’s lived at least a dozen lives; not like a classic ‘immortal that changes through the ages’, but literally different lives as different things. He’s created by human belief and stories, so he’s been a god, king, leprechaun, etc. He’s been cursed to madness, and it manifests sporadically, characterized by forgetting, hallucinating, and being confused by who people and places are because he remembers a different version of them.

His madness causes his previous incarnations to bleed so he ends up with confusing visions; things like this. Here are some video references that show the repetition and overlap he deals with.

All the King’s Horses - general vibe of his various incarnations and repetitive situations
I was a King - more about his dynamic with Wednesday and Laura

And here are some actual clips:
Introduction with coin tricks and a bar brawl
Leprechaun stuck in America
Lugh (sun god)

He’s been trying so hard for so long to graduate, and he’s wearing out. He resents having to watch people come, graduate, and go while he’s stuck spinning his wheels. Whenever he finds things and people he cares about, they leave or are taken away, and he doesn’t see a way out of the cycle. He’s constantly told he’s about to graduate, which is frustrating because he doesn’t. He also gets a lot of variations of ‘you just need to let go of things and be your own man’, but he feels like he can’t because he was made by other people. He externalizes blame for what he is and has done in relation to that as well.

2. Is there a character trait or emotion you absolutely do NOT want brought up? Everything is fair game. If something changes for some reason, I’ll let you know ooc.

3. Is there any visual imagery you associate with your character, and/or is there anything specifically that you'd like Will to visualize? The way that Will can recreate moments in his mind, he might have to splinter or repeat different versions of Sweeney’s to try to sort things out.

For example, in one version of the story, the king he was when he was cursed was cursed because he killed a priest and a bishop inflicted the wrath of god. In another, he was cursed because he ran away from the battle he was supposed to die in. So it’s the same life, but lived different ways.

In general, there are a lot of incarnations to sort through, so I don’t know how Will might comprehend/address those (if he would).

Themes include the sun, gold, coins, road trips, fields of flowers, car wrecks (observed), pregnant wife/queen, spending centuries around gods in a mundane setting, war, spears, hunting, fairy/god offerings, apples, horses, dogs, fire, snow, water (rivers, waterfalls, the ocean)

4. Any plot threads or development you'd like to actually get going through this mechanic? Not that it would come up immediately or that Will would necessarily be interested at all, but Sweeney grows several botanical hallucinogens. I don’t know how ‘psychiatrist’ Will is likely to go personality/purpose-wise, but there’s a lot of damage to potentially address, either as something to attempt to heal or just finding someone that’s relatable (he often is with ‘vision’ type characters).

I know his shit is wonky, so if you ever just want to chat or have questions, I’m always happy to talk about stuff.

[empathicfault]

I can easily see Will getting confused by Sweeney's 'deal'. He's usually very sure in his visualizations, but since Sweeney has so many different ones I'd imagine Will might flop back and forth between them. Thanks for the clips! (and for filling this out, too) American Gods clearly has the same flair for visual imagery as Hannibal (more colors, even!), so that should be fun.

As far as botanical hallucinogens, that IS more of Hannibal's thing. However, Will is cataloguing 'tools' for later use (and possibly in the event that Hannibal ever shows up), so he would at least show some interest there. And yeah, Will is definitely going to relate to: a) Not being sure of who the heck you are, and b) Never catching a break.

[routemistress]

1. What would you like him to be able to suss out about your character? Iris is a bona fide alien and he may be able to pick that up. She's very emotional by choice; she comes from a race that tend to pride themselves on not being emotion-driven, and she lets hers drive partly out of spite/rebellion and partly because her instincts are finely-honed instruments that she trusts to do their job. Part of why she became a werewolf was to lend weight to those instincts.

Most of her emotions are positive. Iris is a relentless optimist and a people person with a sacred mission to make reality more fun everywhere she touches it.

2. Is there a character trait or emotion you absolutely do NOT want brought up? Iris is a heavy drinker but also a borderline-magical alien who's not susceptible to the bad effects that humans are. She's not an addict or an alcoholic.

3. Is there any visual imagery you associate with your character, and/or is there anything specifically that you'd like Will to visualize? Bees, honey, rainbows, butterflies, fractals, freedom, flight and playfulness

4. Any plot threads or development you'd like to actually get going through this mechanic? When I think of one I'll let you know

[empathicfault]

Got it, thanks! I could see Iris doing Will a lot of good, if they end up hanging out enough. Positive emotions are not exactly what he's been soaking himself in lately. Like with Kiryu, he might actually be a little confused.

Anyway, looking forward to more! Will will apologize when he eventually realizes she's a humanoid as well as a werewolf, and hope he hasn't been too embarrassing. Also, good job getting the first real smile out of him on the Barge.

cw: bugs (no, really)

[skitter]

1. What would you like him to be able to suss out about your character?

Taylor is doing her best to rebuild herself after accidentally erasing her humanity in a giant end-of-the-world situation, letting an alien passenger take the wheel. She was originally an inmate here, then a warden, then went home and fucked up, and now she's an inmate again. She's not confident of much, but she is very sure she'll graduate again.

She has good support, but she's hiding how raw she feels from them. She's less guarded with strangers. She's very afraid of other people feeling guilty for her current state, both emotional and physical. And she's afraid she'll interpret some minor aggression as a real threat, because she did entirely lose the ability to tell what was and wasn't hostile for a few crucial hours, and that brought her here to hurt people.

She isn't comfortable with how forgiven she's been. She (thinks she) killed Shen Jiye/Ye Zun and did kill Dorian and brutalized Jon and none of them have really spoken to her about it yet.

2. Is there a character trait or emotion you absolutely do NOT want brought up? Nothing I can think of.

3. Is there any visual imagery you associate with your character, and/or is there anything specifically that you'd like Will to visualize? Oh, so much. Swarms of insects/spiders, dragonflies, maggots, being devoured, webs, golden honeycomb, the ocean, unimaginably large interstellar life forms, puppets, hollow puppets, burning inside an abandoned house, drowning in insects, endless echoes, a quiet clean jail cell, the hectic insect life going on beneath growing plants, a drowned city on fire, continents fracturing, a surgical saw cutting into a scalp. The bug-related ones are going to be the closest to the surface, I'd think.

4. Any plot threads or development you'd like to actually get going through this mechanic? Taylor's got a few things that might resonate with Will - She's got a long-running complicated relationship with a horrifically unethical and unnaturally intelligent surgeon who has cut into her head (Riley/Bonesaw is 14, and SUPER not licensed, but that's not stopping her and her reciprocating saw), she's spent a good bit of time in a jail cell, and she was let out on work release to hunt serial killers.

And she has both been eaten by someone, and eaten parts of other people via her swarm.

[empathicfault]

Oh man, thanks for filling this out! Poor Taylor sounds like she's been through the ringer. I look forward to giving Will some entirely new creepy imagery to play with. :3

And yes, they can commiserate on having their heads cut into- Will's scar will be very visible as he doesn't cover it up. And commiserate on serial killers all day long. ;)

I think Taylor's working at the kennel right now? Will is going to be there a lot. He'll probably approach the idea of working there himself. So maybe they can talk there sometime?

[lestercraft]

1. What would you like him to be able to suss out about your character? So Arthur and John (greatoldjohn) are basically a bonded pair, in that John is an eldritch monstrosity trying very hard to know what it is to be human, by living in a man who has been through more love, grief, heartbreak and anger than would be fair or reasonable to ask of anyone else. Arthur Lester is an orphan, a widow, a once-father and even lost his best friend, literally the last person he had left in the world before John, and he carries the weight of his grief on his shoulders as a constant reminder that his mistakes are his to own, his burden to carry, and his sins to not be absolved of. But apart from the obvious magical ties to John, he's a pretty normal human being: an ex-pianist composer, a current detective specialising in missing persons, and a petty criminal in the pursuit thereof, from the year 1934. Also much younger than his cold, calculated demeanor of someone not to fuck with suggests.

2. Is there a character trait or emotion you absolutely do NOT want brought up? Nothing OOCly!

3. Is there any visual imagery you associate with your character, and/or is there anything specifically that you'd like Will to visualize? When John is with Arthur they are joined at the eyes, and in the past I've had too much fun going off on what this looks like aesthetically; you can also assume any of John's own imagery is mixing with or overlapping Arthur's own. When he's alone, however, it's markedly different: Missing eyes, missing left hand/foot (the parts that John possesses), bleeding wounds on his chest from bullets, a stab wound through his abdomen, his right leg shattered in multiple places, running water, light through water or being soaking wet (it's Lovecraft he's a soggy protagonist in a very literal sense), a melancholy piano tune, the sounds of a baby crying, the shadows of the dead surrounding him, or a broken golden crown.

4. Any plot threads or development you'd like to actually get going through this mechanic? Anything to do with the death of his daughter will get an extremely hostile response, and would probably bait him to violence very quickly. However anyone else - including his parents, the mother of his child and his best friend - would get still hostile but markedly less aggressive reactions.

[empathicfault]

Oh man, those pictures are so cool- I will keep that in mind! Sounds like Arthur is something extremely familiar with loss, which Will tends to be at least a little sensitive about. So we'll see if he hits any buttons there. Will would probably pick up more quickly on the detective stuff than some of the rest. But he'll also be fascinated by the whole partnership Arthur has with John.

Thanks very much for filling this out! Hope to have them run into each other on the ship sometime.

[pharadyne]

1. What would you like him to be able to suss out about your character? Norton is a bundle of perky flibbertigibbet wrapped around a hard inner core of spite and damage. And, like Dorian, he's also usually horny on main. He's, like, 80% open book which makes people often not look for the hidden 20% because it seems like he's just letting it all hang out. But that inner 20% is a mess. He's very angry, very lonely, but has a very hard time trusting people enough for genuine emotional intimacy. And he has a very transactional mindset.

2. Is there a character trait or emotion you absolutely do NOT want brought up? Nothing I can think of! If something ever does come up, I'll let you know.

3. Is there any visual imagery you associate with your character, and/or is there anything specifically that you'd like Will to visualize? Mid-century, post-WII London. (Buildings bombed out from the Blitz, dingy boarding houses, Soho dance halls and gay clubs, flickering lights, thick pea soup smog, etc.) Also holograms, alien ray guns, fancy 1950s suits and hats. Or anything that you think might make sense is good too!

4. Any plot threads or development you'd like to actually get going through this mechanic? I usually end up winging things, but if something specific pops into my head I'll let you know. And if you ever have a plot idea I can help with, I love helping people make plots happen.

[empathicfault]

Will tends to show a lot of people his damage so they don't know the REAL damage that's in there, so- he gets at least the hiding of the True Self, Norton. And ooh, some old London imagery and old sci-fi nonsense should be fun. It's less creepy than he usually goes, so at least there's a silver lining there. Thanks for replying. :3

Maggie Garcia

[talesuntold]

1. What would you like him to be able to suss out about your character?
Maggie is warm and friendly and welcoming and kind, but she's also got a deep core of stubbornness and sheer protective spite. She would walk through fire for her people, and she would also kill for them if she had to.

She has a lot of loneliness and need as well, but tends to do fairly well finding people to fill it. It just looms in the background sometimes.

She's pretty good at balancing priorities, but sometimes it weighs on her, all the times she has to choose. The sacrifices she makes willingly, with her eyes open.

She believes in Sweeney, but she's also terrified of failing him.

Blood horrifies her on a visceral level, so anything bloody comes with a pretty strong wave of fear/revulsion, even if she's been getting better at stifling and coping with that lately.

2. Is there a character trait or emotion you absolutely do NOT want brought up?
I'm cool with anything!

3. Is there any visual imagery you associate with your character, and/or is there anything specifically that you'd like Will to visualize?
Maggie's dogs back home are all miniature bulldogs. I associate her with forest clearings, vegetable gardens, fresh picked strawberries, popcorn and parties. Horror movies in general, but I don't have a specific character/movie association there. The obvious zombie imagery, considering she's from a post-zombie uprising world. She's referenced Greek mythology in some of her poems (specifically, there's a canon one that mentions Hades and Persephone), so that's also a viable option.

4. Any plot threads or development you'd like to actually get going through this mechanic?
I'm terrible at pre-plotting and tend to just throw characters together, but if anything here resonates, let me know and I'm happy to look for opportunities to bring it up!

Re: Maggie Garcia

[empathicfault]

Thanks for replying! So despite Maggie being so good at connecting with people that Will is going to be a little confused about it, he really understands the desire to protect others, to the point of murder, suffering, and/or death. So that's something they might connect on sometime.

And yay, he'll have some nice imagery to go with everything else here. (I mean, yes zombies, but still!) Will is going to appreciate that. Also dogs!

[untiltheend]

1. What would you like him to be able to suss out about your character? Sebastian puts on an act of politeness and charm, of being hard-working and helpful, but in reality he completely lacks empathy, is cruel and looks down on others. He gets intensely obsessive over what he wants: his master, eating, having a meal that tastes just so. He thinks a lot of humans on the Barge smell like they'd taste delicious (Will included, most likely).

2. Is there a character trait or emotion you absolutely do NOT want brought up? The specifics of who his master is and what their Contract entails, just on the off chance said master is ever apped here.

3. Is there any visual imagery you associate with your character, and/or is there anything specifically that you'd like Will to visualize? Black smokey tendrils, blood, claws and fangs (if Hannibal's inner monster is represented by a Wendigo, Sebastian's true self is more darkness made manifest, a black hole, a creeping shadow). And on the other end fancy china, tea, elegant chandeliers, heavy velvet curtains --mixing the two categories works too.

4. Any plot threads or development you'd like to actually get going through this mechanic? I've yet to actually watch the show, but I'm thinking Sebastian would likely give Will major Hannibal vibes?

[empathicfault]

Yeah, there be some Hannibal vibes over here, wow. It's only Sebastian coming off like an actual void or black hole that's different, really.

Will is having a fairly nice chat with him over the network, funnily enough, as Will doesn't quite get enough info through audio to go off of. But I'm thinking Will'd end up staring at Sebastian for overly-long periods if Will sees him on the Barge, and especially if he's spotted working the breakfast shift. He might actually seek out Sebastian after that, partially because he isn't sure if other people catch the danger, and partially because Will makes terrible choices and is drawn to monsters.

[thedeadgirl]

1. What would you like him to be able to suss out about your character? Laura's a lot, though a little less upon her arrival on the barge. At first pass, it's obvious she struggles internally but putting a finger on any one thing is kind of impossible. She seems to rotate regularly between a gamut of negative emotions, the worst being extreme anger, apathy, and depression which all seem to be very deeply rooted. She lacks any of the faith that most people believe in that, in their opinion, makes life worth living. Love, humanity, God/spirituality, and forgiveness (though this one she is currently working on), all seem to be foreign concepts to her.

It should be also noted that Laura isn't always a nasty bitch. She can be nice and actually is pretty decent to be around even when she is going through the thick of her own personal bullshit.

2. Is there a character trait or emotion you absolutely do NOT want brought up? Nope, have at it!

3. Is there any visual imagery you associate with your character, and/or is there anything specifically that you'd like Will to visualize? Do Not Disturb doorknob sign, statue of the Egyptian God Anubis, can of bug spray, hot tub, gold coin (which Will may recognize as being the same as Sweeney's), maggots, a field of blue wildflowers, potion bottle with handwritten 'le vrai sang de l'amour', small brown cardboard box, blood stain on a light blue cement floor, spear (specifically Gungnir, Odin's/Wednesday's spear if he's familiar with Norse mythology).

4. Any plot threads or development you'd like to actually get going through this mechanic? I think because it's Laura, slow and steady is going to have to be the approach. She's very much in denial over Feelings she has for a certain tol leprechaun or any of her mistakes prior to Wednesday hiring Sweeney to see to her death. She absolutely needs kid gloves because telling her what she thinks she needs and how to feel are trigger points that could result in her turning defensive and angry.

Meeting, possible attacks, etc.

[chaos_drifter]

1. What would you like him to be able to suss out about your character? Avalon is pretty much…empty. They are an identity-less being who has spent most of their existence in a magical in-between realm, only coming out to murder people. That said, I like the idea of Will being able to see a) that Avalon has no soul of their own, and/or b) memories of their past kills, including the failed victim and their own killer.

2. Is there a character trait or emotion you absolutely do NOT want brought up? Not that I can think of right now. If something comes up, I’ll tell you.

3. Is there any visual imagery you associate with your character, and/or is there anything specifically that you'd like Will to visualize? “Sometimes he sees things that don't seem to make a whole lot of sense until later- I tend to interpret that as him integrating evidence that he hasn't logically noticed yet.”—Going with this, I like the idea of Will seeing the Rift (basically, an empty/dark/endless room), but not realizing that this was Avalon’s “home world” or what they used it for until later.

4. Any plot threads or development you'd like to actually get going through this mechanic? Let me know, I'd love to plan with you! Will could be a good way to weasel info or feelings out of someone who would otherwise keep them hidden, if that's something you'd like. I'm also very happy to just see where things go. I would like Will and Avalon to meet each other at some point and possibly have Avalon attack, or at least take an unhealthy interest in, Will.

[empathicfault]

My apologies for taking so long to get back to you on this (and the other plotting stuff). I kinda took on too much and got overwhelmed for a bit. But I'm back now! And thanks for filling this out! I think Will seeing the Rift is a great idea, and just...not knowing that's exactly what it is. Some of his visualizations include things that are kind of on their own, in a void so as not to distract them- it would take him a bit to realize that the void is actually a place.

He's also dealt with mostly empty people before, although probably not as much as Avalon seems to be. Will tends to be drawn to them, because there's less 'noise' to interfere with his own thoughts and feelings. I think having these two interact is a great idea, and that post you tagged him on with Sheehan is a great jumping off point. We can see how it develops from there. :3

Ilde

[erbier]

1. What would you like him to be able to suss out about your character?

I mean, I think he's already pretty well on top of what her problem is. Her app is at your disposal.

2. Is there a character trait or emotion you absolutely do NOT want brought up?

It's fine to bring something up, she will shut it down if she's really not going to talk about it.

As long as she's not being physically threatened, she's likely to show any upset by getting cold and mean. Any physical component opens up her ability for violence, even if it's well-meaning contact. There's also a level of offense where she will uh TAKE HER RECOMPENSE. She can absolutely be very dangerous.

3. Is there any visual imagery you associate with your character, and/or is there anything specifically that you'd like Will to visualize?

https://erbier.dreamwidth.org/969.html - Visualize/Music
https://erbier.dreamwidth.org/7487.html - Dreus
https://erbier.dreamwidth.org/1866.html?thread=2890#cmt2890 - CR imagery
(You can ignore Cathaway and Prince, they were for another game.)

4. Any plot threads or development you'd like to actually get going through this mechanic?

I'm very happy to see where things go, and also plot as events make themselves available. If you ever need to contact me you can PM me or discord me: itsabee#1072.

[atowncalledtreffy]

1. What would you like him to be able to suss out about your character? In the face of things that would make most people shit their pants in terror, Trevor mostly feels tired and laser-focused on getting rid of whatever it is. He wants to protect innocent people from harm first and foremost, at the cost of everything else. He has a very sad feel to him that characters have remarked on in his canon. He doesn't have 'medium' wants if that makes sense: he wants to sleep, eat, and curl up somewhere warm most of the time as a base need, and the other part of the time he wants to rescue his family from eternal damnation. He also wants to protect every inmate and hates the Admiral.

2. Is there a character trait or emotion you absolutely do NOT want brought up? None that I can think of!

3. Is there any visual imagery you associate with your character, and/or is there anything specifically that you'd like Will to visualize? Trevor tends to wear his family's crest around with him that's a pretty prominent symbol. He's also from a 500-year-long strain of vampire hunters so a lot of fang-imagery and biting will probably serve Will well. Trevor also carries a whip that's been in use for that long that has the soul of a person inside it, idk if that's useful to know.

4. Any plot threads or development you'd like to actually get going through this mechanic? Whatever you'd like! I think Trevor would like Will but joke that he would be a nosy POS who would get along better with his girlfriend.

[a_titanum]

1. What would you like him to be able to suss out about your character? Florian is full of rage and hatred and bitterness, specifically against the people of his world. He hates the city he came from because of the actions of her people and he hates the people of the other cities for vicitmizing his city. He's also vaguely suicidal, his life's purpose very much one he never intended to live through given his whole life was lived in spite.

2. Is there a character trait or emotion you absolutely do NOT want brought up? Nope. Go for it.

3. Is there any visual imagery you associate with your character, and/or is there anything specifically that you'd like Will to visualize? Black water filled with poison and coal, a bay like a black crescent, abominations and mutations of natural things, plague (specifically plague with black spots that grow), corpses (rotting in various stages), old blood and old money, sun and moon imagery, the bloated corpse of a girl who looks exactly like him, covered in black spots sinking into the waves, a stone statue of a sea goddess who looks like she's drowning, locked doors, boarded windows, a door to a basement that's basically the abyss and/or hell with people screaming and crying from the darkness, a beautiful woman whose eyes burn out into ash, flaming hot axes, textile mills

4. Any plot threads or development you'd like to actually get going through this mechanic? Nothing in particular, but if you want to bond over being poisonous rage filled little cream puff looking motherfuckers, aces!

[littletonoidea]

1. What would you like him to be able to suss out about your character? Eiffel is a depressed dude with ADHD so his emotions turn on a dime, but he generally exists in a gently tired but upbeat fugue state, and when he's not chill his emotions are bare on his sleeve.

2. Is there a character trait or emotion you absolutely do NOT want brought up? Eiffel's an open book so everything's fair game!

3. Is there any visual imagery you associate with your character, and/or is there anything specifically that you'd like Will to visualize? Extremely bright red or blue backlighting, lack of gravity (items, or Eiffel himself, floating around him), space suit, bottles of alcohol, loose cigarettes (the smell tends to be extremely strong around him regardless), radio components or blasts of static, Doug's own voice as heard through a radio speaker, visual white noise especially across his ears and eyes, punctured lungs and bleeding from the mouth.

4. Any plot threads or development you'd like to actually get going through this mechanic? I don't have any real thoughts for where to go with these boys, but Eiffel thinks he's neat and he'll want to keep helping since Will is his bestie's inmate!

Neal Caffrey (cw parental neglect/alcoholism)

[conning]

1. What would you like him to be able to suss out about your character? Fears, desires, motivations, immediate wants, HAVE AT THEE. Neal is deeply motivated by his love of other people, but also just as deeply motivated by guilt, shame, and/or a need to prove himself. His dad was a deadbeat criminal he never saw after his third birthday, and his mom was an alcoholic who loved him very much, but that was about all she was good for.

He's terrified of the people he cares about giving up on him, or of them deciding he's not worth their time. He's always sure the next mistake he makes will be the one that breaks his relationships. He's always convinced that he's going to be replaced as soon as someone finds a person more useful to them. He's wanted a family for much of his life, to build one but also to find one. As for more immediate wants, this is his headspace as of late May.

2. Is there a character trait or emotion you absolutely do NOT want brought up? Nothing in particular comes to mind!

3. Is there any visual imagery you associate with your character, and/or is there anything specifically that you'd like Will to visualize? Nothing in particular again. He's very much an Art Guy, he deeply loves its creation and the techniques involved, so take that as you will!

4. Any plot threads or development you'd like to actually get going through this mechanic? I will DEFINITELY update this if I think of something.

[deuceoftears]

1. What would you like him to be able to suss out about your character? Jedao is very, very skilled at hiding what's going on with him, as he spent almost his entire pre-barge life living as a comfortable prisoner of the Space KGB and after two years his psychiatry/interrogation team were like "we're not getting anywhere, you should just kill him." So that's fun! But on the barge he does not always actually use those skills. I'll try to be clear in narration what a hyperperceptive person like Will could pick up and when he's just getting a blank mask. Will can probably pick up for sure that 1) Jedao has had some experience hiding his reactions, 2) that Jedao doesn't feel like he 'belongs' with normal people, and 3) that he has extremely high situational awareness - he doesn't get surprised by anything behind him, even if he seems absorbed in whatever he's doing. Anything deeper (like. being a LITERAL alien) won't be apparent unless specified.

2. Is there a character trait or emotion you absolutely do NOT want brought up? See above!

3. Is there any visual imagery you associate with your character, and/or is there anything specifically that you'd like Will to visualize? Eyes, darkness, lovecraftian-ish squidink vibes, moths, fire, masks, broken glass fragments, ghosts, starry voids. Jedao has weird shit going on!

4. Any plot threads or development you'd like to actually get going through this mechanic? Jedao has a thing called "Crowned with Eyes" which is basically Space Omens for hyperempathy/hyperintuition/seeing All the Patterns (in larger groups as well as individuals). Jedao has a lot less practice at it, and often the totally different cultural contexts on the barge throw him for a loop a little, but it could be funny one day to have them both fully "seeing infinite mirrors of seeing each other SAME HAT" interaction.

[abyssalflames]

1. What would you like him to be able to suss out about your character? Though Lahabrea is externally calm, he's actually got a fairly decent amount of emotion going on; he just works very hard to not let it interfere with his life. At the moment that emotional balance skews most easily to anger, though intellectual curiosity is in there also.

He has almost completely cut himself off from most things related to love or infatuation, and in general tends to be very "duty before all".

2. Is there a character trait or emotion you absolutely do NOT want brought up? Yeah, so that part where he distances himself super hard from love or anything similar? That's related to a big old ball of trauma that he Will Not talk about, so unless it's come up related to something like a memory event he will shut the conversation down hard if Will mentions it.

3. Is there any visual imagery you associate with your character, and/or is there anything specifically that you'd like Will to visualize? Lahabrea is most strongly associated with chains and phoenixes, though also with fire as a whole.

4. Any plot threads or development you'd like to actually get going through this mechanic? Perhaps unsurprisingly, Lahabrea is not and has not historically been good at dealing with anything at all when it comes to like. actually processing emotions related to some of the shit that has happened to him. Actually getting him to talk about it is going to be like pulling teeth, but if Will does manage it, it could definitely be useful!

[lost_first]

1. What would you like him to be able to suss out about your character? Jamie is achingly lonely because he's had to isolate himself to protect people from Peter, he's missed out on every kind of life experience by being an immortal child for lifetimes, and he feels every one. He's so so so angry, at Peter especially, and so sad at the losses of all the boys that he loved over the years and then all of the pirates that he took on to protect and care about. He wants revenge like most people want air. Right now, he wants to live AWAY and APART from Peter so much. He wants to find out who he is and what the world (worlds?) are like that aren't the island.

2. Is there a character trait or emotion you absolutely do NOT want brought up? Nope!

3. Is there any visual imagery you associate with your character, and/or is there anything specifically that you'd like Will to visualize? Blue eyes, dark hair, blood, a woman's hands reaching out, a smile below where there should be a smile (slit throat), a candle dropping in the dark and going out, a clearing full of weapons stuck into the ground, a young girl savagely killed by a crocodile, bloody red right hands. Rising tides of red rage is kind of omnipresent for him.

4. Any plot threads or development you'd like to actually get going through this mechanic? Jamie was, hilariously enough, parentified by Peter for a long time, making him the one who took care of the boys in a meaningful way and making him essentially an abused partner always trying to 'save' the boys from Peter's whims and bullshit. He's been isolated and he's been given the most toxic version of love there is. He absolutely needs friends (guess who could never have those in either version of his 'life' without Peter trying to kill them) and given Will's own stuff, I'd love to see them working through things together. And Will being able to sense all the pain Jamie keeps stuffed down and hidden could be great if you're down for that.

[empathicfault]

Will definitely has some of his same issues, and I think they can connect and talk through some of this toxic relationship bs they've both been put through. Will is absolutely going to want to make sure that James isn't left to deal with this on his own, since he's unlucky enough to have his nemesis/partner on board the ship with him. I look forward to them talking through some of this stuff! At the very least, they can both be very Tired of Everything in each other's vicinity. ;)