I’ve been noticing some discourse about Will’s and Hannibal’s sexuality - like whether they are pan, bi, gay etc. and I have some thoughts.
I wanna preface this though by saying there’s nothing wrong with headcanoning them to be a specific sexual identity, this is, as always, just my opinion. That being said:
The way I see it is that Hannibal doesn’t really feel attracted to people at all. He views them as beneath him, so just as we don’t feel sexually attracted to a pig, Hannibal doesn’t feel sexually attracted to a person. He doesn’t mind sleeping with someone (Alana Bloom for example) if that benefits him but it’s not a desire, it’s practicality.
Will is a bit more complicated just because of how repressed he is. Because of that I think Will would seek physical intimacy as a replacement for emotional intimacy. An example of this would be when he kissed Alana as a clutch for balance. I think this is also highlighted beautifully in the scene where Will sleeps with Margot. During the scene he keeps seeing Hannibal as the Wendigo constantly looming over them. So I think through sleeping with Margot, another patient of dr. Lecter, he hopes to emotionally connect more- not to her, of course, but to Hannibal (more on that later though).
Everything said earlier though does not matter, their sexualities do not matter because when it comes to each other all rules, all standards, all boundaries go out the window.
Will’s and Hannibal’s sexualities do not matter because the only people they could ever actually, truly be attracted to in any way is each other. And because both of them are so desperate for companionship the physical form of their beloved, their gender, their sex, their appearance would not matter.
Hannibal is attracted to Will because Hannibal considers him his equal. His only equal. And thus the only person he would ever even consider starting a genuine relationship with. And thus he clutches to that person because it’s his only hope of companionship and understanding. Will is the only person in a world of pigs. And so Will is the only person Hannibal would ever actually want physical intimacy with.
Will is attracted to Hannibal because he sees that Hannibal is the only person who will accept him as his true self. Without the person suit. And thus Hannibal is the only person who can provide Will with the emotional intimacy he seeks. And through fulfilling that desire for emotional intimacy Will would be then open to the want for physical intimacy. And only then would he be able to desire physical intimacy not as a replacement for emotional intimacy, but rather as its own kind of connection. And the only person who could open that possibility for Will is Hannibal.
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