empathicfault | Will's Insight

Will's Insight | Opt-In Post

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)--

1. What would you like him to be able to suss out about your character? He works in emotions, so fears, desires, motivations, immediate wants, all that sort of thing is good.

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

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.

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.

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

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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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Edited 2023-02-28 01:38 (UTC)

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.

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.

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

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!

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!

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.

I love all of this (particularly him peeking at her ledger, lmao).

Ooh, I love the plastic sheeting analogy; it's perfect for her!

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.

He looked at everyone's ledger. Hers was just one of the more interesting. ;)

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!

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!

Yes pls. Also his father was always pressing on him to be like him and to admit being like him etc etc. Essentially, pressing on his fears is something Martin does a lot and I forgot to mention that when he gets highly emotional - but especially up in the fear response - his right hand has a pretty severe psychogenic tremor.

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.

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.

Absolutely. John's got a lot of problems having faith in people. He had a couple of really unfortunate betrayals recently that stung. He cares a lot and he cares a lot about people, likes helping them, but he's lost a lot of faith in them over the years. Something in him broke ages ago and nothing's really fixed it.

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.

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.

Brian Fuller is the man, and you can 100% see his vibe all over the place in season 1. He left before season 2, but they still valiantly tried to keep it up. Watching it always makes me crave a Hannibal rewatch.

Whatever happens with Will and Sweeney, I'm confident it's going to be fun.

As a random aside, I have seriously considered playing that Hannibal before you arrived. I just couldn't figure out a 'path to redemption'. But much love, and who knows, I might still app in the future.

And two random clips of Brian Fuller alumni, who I love.

Scott Thompson (cw: gore)
Jonathan Tucker

Oh geez, I didn't even know he was responsible for American Gods (season 1 anyway). Well, no freakin' wonder! That's awesome. I really need to just watch everything Brian Fuller's ever done, clearly.

Ha, well- that is the sticking point, isn't it? A path to redemption with Hannibal would be rough. You ever figure it out, though? I'd love to see him. Maybe there'll be a 4th wall thing sometime or something?

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