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

[primedirector]

1. What would you like him to be able to suss out about your character? Jesse's an extremely traumatised individual, having lost her parents at age 11 due to a supernatural event and then her brother to the aftermath involving the Bureau she now controls, and has had an extremely difficult upbringing for various reasons. Apart from that she's very open about her powers and current situation and won't hesitate to tell him to fuck off if she doesn't want to talk about anything.

2. Is there a character trait or emotion you absolutely do NOT want brought up? Not really! We can discuss if you want to use anything particularly deep with her though. Jesse will be sympathetic towards him finding things out through his powers, but she won't be prompted by it to confess anything and it may not prevent her from getting angry about the invasive feel of it regardless of the hypocrisy.

3. Is there any visual imagery you associate with your character, and/or is there anything specifically that you'd like Will to visualize? Polaris overlaying her, especially when Jesse is talking directly to her or using her powers, the sound of gentle white noise overlaying her thoughts or words. Sometimes her words might come out as hyperreal chatter, where multiple definitions come out for the same intended word. Only when it's brought up will Will be able to get snippets of the Hiss's self-propogating earworm chant or abrupt flashes of a pulsing pseudo-organic resonance or a bald young man making direct eye contact with Will.

4. Any plot threads or development you'd like to actually get going through this mechanic? I'm immediately fascinated by him introducing himself with knowing Saga and Alan, haha, so I'm really curious how they might bounce off each other! She'd understand his near-psychic empathy really quickly, even as a primarily telekinetic psychic herself.