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

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

[chaos_drifter]

Cool! Oh, and if you want to use the flood for mental messing, I’d be happy to plot things for that, too!

Addendum

[chaos_drifter]

3. Is there any visual imagery you associate with your character, and/or is there anything specifically that you'd like Will to visualize? So, now that they’ve got a better understanding of their emotions, Avalon probably reads less like a void and more like Shaw’s kind of “quiet.” There’s still a disconnect between their mental and physical reactions, but both are a stronger now. Will might visualize things that are more concrete, but that have missing or broken parts — maybe a clock with no hands or a hand pointing at each number, broken mirrors, things like that.

Re: Addendum

[empathicfault]

Yeah! They've really been working on figuring out themselves, so that makes so much sense. Thanks for the new visualizations.

[chaos_drifter]

You’re welcome!