Hello my INSANE Will-Graham-Is-Trans-Coded essay is about halfway done at this point and I’m posting my progress here in hopes that someone will give me some kind of feedback? I’m literally just writing a goddamn manifesto for my own enjoyment/hyperfixation/therapy as I haven’t written an essay since college. I’m also citing various peoples’ metas and stuff from here. CW for the usual Hannibal stuff as well as liberal use of the words vagina/female with regards to transmasculinity, mention of SA/r*pe
ohhh Achilles and Patroclus this, Achilles and Patroclus that, WRONG. NBC Hannibal is a Hades and Persephone re-telling and I CAN PROVE IT:
Hannibal is literally a king of the underworld (his mind palace? a labyrinth of death, decay, and artfully arranged bodies).
Kore’s Becoming: Will starts as Kore (the maiden), naive to his own darkness. Over time, through Hannibal’s influence, he transforms into Persephone, Bringer of Destruction—a process that the show explicitly fixates on. The way Hannibal sees Will before Will even sees himself? That’s Hades recognizing Persephone’s potential before she fully understands it.
Jack as Demeter: Jack Crawford desperately trying to “save” Will, trying to pull him back to the surface world, only to realise Will is never fully coming back. The way Demeter fought to retrieve Kore but ultimately had to accept that she had changed into Persephone? That’s Jack realising that part of Will is always going to belong to Hannibal now.
Food as a tether: Hannibal doesn’t just feed Will—he indoctrinates him through food. Just like Hades gives Persephone the pomegranate seeds, Hannibal’s meals are an irreversible threshold. Once Will eats, he’s his.
Will isn’t some helpless victim, either. He’s the Queen of this place. Persephone doesn’t just live in the underworld, she rules it. She is feared. and Will—oh, Will—he doesn’t just follow Hannibal, he learns to dance with him. He doesn’t just descend into Hannibal’s darkness; he reshapes it.
Oh and the best part? Persephone may return to the surface, but she always comes back to the underworld. Will tries to escape, tries to be normal, but he always comes back to Hannibal, to the place where he is understood, to the world where he belongs.
will graham being violently jealous and possessive over hannibal is so funny and charming and necessary because it really helps even out their dynamic a lil like yes hannibal is doctor Gaslight but it’s quite fitting and hilarious that he manipulated himself into a relationship with a guy who is gonna be like why were you small talking with the man at the cheese counter so long. Do you like him. I’m blowing this building up with everyone inside including us
the way men think eating meat feeds into their masculinity is so fucking funny like miss thing you didn’t wrestle that shit with your bare hands you took your dumpy ass to costco in your wife’s pt cruiser you might as well be a drag queen at this point
