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

[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!