Unfthmbl - UNFTHMBL

Randy "Buck" Bradley & Canine Benson from The Passenger (2023)

© Emil Melmoth

Vasiliy Poryagin

Hunger is obviously a major theme in Hannibal—it’s literally the cannibal show—but the difference in how that’s portrayed with Hannigram is intriguing.

Hannibal was starving for connection before he had Will, and then everything changed for him. As Bedelia tells Will, “Did he daily feel a stab of hunger, and find nourishment at the very sight of you? Yes.” Hannibal’s hunger is sated by so much as the sight of Will. A mere look at him is enough to satisfy him.

But Will is different. Rather than being sated by his connection with Hannibal, it is the very thing that makes him hungry. There’s a frame in the Italy chapter that makes it look like he’s trapped in a starvation cage. In the script for his sailing scene, he’s literally described to look hungry:

Both Hannibal and Will have a possessive, obsessive, all-consuming love for one another, but it affects them quite differently. Hannibal is nourished by the very sight of Will, but for Will, no amount of the profound attention he experiences from Hannibal can fully sate his hunger—it’s a high he can’t help but chase. It fuels his pathological need to return to Hannibal again and again, no matter how self-destructive it is. I think this is why Will is more outwardly possessive of Hannibal than Hannibal is of Will. Hannibal wants Will to be his; Will wants Hannibal to be no one else’s. Both forms of possession, but Will’s is more jealous because of the way he experiences Hannibal’s attention. It’s a high, it’s a hunger—it’s a need, not a want.

Vampire bat drinking blood

casual wear (splattered with blood) vs. evening wear (drenched in blood)

burning cathedral of Notre Dame

If you think about "hunting styles" when it comes to Will and Hannibal, there are some notable differences. Hannibal hunts like a predator. Sits in the tall grass, observes for a long while and one day he decides to attack.

Will on the other hand, hunts the same way he fishes. He never attacks. He always lures people right into his arms. He lured Hannibal. He lured Freddie into his shed to make her part of the plan. He lured Chilton into getting himself fried. He lured Chiyoh into killing the prisoner.

This is definitely something to explore in the post twotl fics. Hannibal and Will learning about their differences when it comes to killing.

there will be blood? like. you promise?