empathicfault | Will's Insight

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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

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.

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.

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?

I would absolutely play him in a 4th wall event. And I'll keep brainstorming a way to get him onboard. I would love to play him opposite Sweeney because they're SO different. And it would be amazing to get to play him with Will. They're just so complex together.

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