#cinn replies

It isn’t a bother at all!

I think tumblr’s new system has really hit all of us, creatively, and it has led us to seeking new areas to post our works. Unfortunately with our base of readers moving around as well, it can make it difficult. It oftentimes feels like most of our reader base has left tumblr, or, if not, simply don’t feel like re-blogging or liking things. And while that isn’t the major reason we haven’t been posting, it has definitely hindered the creative juices. 

Feynites is ok, though! We still throw ideas and plots around together, and she has posted a few things over on her pillowfort and her Ao3. None of us have gotten back into writing and updating on our old schedules, and I’m not entirely certain when that will happen. 

😥👉👈

She is! Areca is surviving through sheer spite right now, and going through it emotionally, but she is still alive and kicking. We are about to have a six month timeskip so she will be able to gather herself and get ready to continue being a badass in the future.

Oh wow, I think at the moment I would say drawing. My writing has been in such a rut lately, and I have spent more time drawing because of it. I think my drawing has really improved and I can do it a lot faster as well. 

Senhlen comes to them for quiet. 

Not the cavernous silence of an empty room, where she spends her days as a lorekeeper for Lord Dirthamen, but the gentle, comforting silence of companionship. She lays her head in Melarue’s lap and closes her eyes, and sighs softly as Melarue cards gentle fingers through her hair. 

Melarue dims the lights, and muffles the magic in the room meant to stimulate, so that there is nothing to keep Senhlen from drifting peacefully to sleep. 

Sometimes Senhlen does, and other days she simply curls into Melarue, touch-starved and weary, and Melarue does what they can to put her at peace, away from the secrets and the need to know and look and remember. 

The two never speak, not so much as a whispered greeting.

Melarue leaves the window open, so the two can feel the soft, cool breeze of a fine spring day, and smell the magnolia blossoms drifting in the courtyard. 

A simple thing, this silence, and a simple pleasure that Melarue appreciates.

---

True to his word, Will Graham abandoned Jack Crawford’s pursuit of free-range serial killers, among which the Chesapeake Ripper, in favour of his young, recently acquired daughter.

It had taken an unfair amount of time and convincing, not to mention an unexpected cycle of the infamous psychopath, before the head of the Behavioral Analysis Unit gave up. Only in front of Clarice’s all-encompassing eyes would he eventually give in.

Despite Hannibal’s extensive attempts to predict his behaviour and motivations, Will Graham remained a source of continuous wonder in the shape of himself or his young daughter’s, whom absorbed all of his attention and, consequently, deprive Hannibal of it.

The situation shouldn’t have bothered him, nor should it have significantly impacted on his routine, upsetting the arrangement of his mundane obligations and ludic appointments, yet it had become necessary to adjust their habits. Long hours in court to obtain legal custody of Clarice and copious embarrassing childproofed lunches, to Hannibal’s sufferance, made him realize their lives was bound to change drastically.

It took some time for the former Staling heir to cope with her sudden shift of perspective, from a troubled mother to an unpracticed father. School transfer had been handled, fitting clothes had been acquired, accommodations had been found both on Clarice’s behalf and Will’s employment situation. Bottles of whiskey had been well hidden, if not outright disposed of.

Hannibal had endeavoured not to replenish his stocks, nor to impede the smooth adaptation occurring before his watchful eyes, involving him in its crescendo. After his little efforts to alienate Jack Crawford from his protégé and ensuring Will would trust nobody but his former psychiatrist, Hannibal entertained the idea of winding him up and leisurely watching him deal with his parental issues. Something had made him desist in merely observing rather than participating.

It had been interesting to observe Will struggling with his becoming. He was protective of Clarice in a different way than he was of Abigail, similarly dedicated yet more apprehensive. Less sharp, more transparent, dangerously stable for Hannibal’s taste, especially considering he felt mildly drained whenever he interacted hirsthand with the lovely girl.

His crafted charm had been honed to enthrall a mature audience, a child wouldn’t appreciate his extensive knowledge in medicine, many languages and various forms of art. Consequently, his refined talents proved uninteresting to Clarice, as Hannibal had been to her brilliant father upon their first meeting. It felt tragically serendipitous.

But Will’s birthday was approaching and her experience dictated Clarice sought valid allies in virtue of her dire circumstances. “I want to make him a gift,” she had firmly declared, serious expression to match her serious intents. Still practicing on calling Will dad. “He told me to stay away from the fishing gear, said it’s dangerous for me if he’s not around,” she lamented, clearly disagreeing, “but it would be fine if you were there, right?”

Hannibal noticed she hadn’t asked for him to perform the crafting, merely supervise her.

Another adult would perhaps find her resolution endearing, mentally prepare to persuade a more convenient choice into her young mind; take her tiny hands, flaunt a reassuring smile and ensure Clarice that it was the thought that counted. Maybe congratulate themselves for having preserved her safety.

Hannibal was honoured she had come to him instead. Even if he hadn’t been waiting for an opportunity to establish and consolidate a harmonious relationship with Clarice, Hannibal did feel inclined to accommodate her. It thrilled him to serve as an indulged accomplice to match her precocious determination.

Hannibal knew how sparingly a child conceded trust after a traumatic event, abandonment did require expectations, and Grahams were oysters particularly protective of their pearls. As much as Hannibal fantasized about carving them open, a firm yet gentle hand would obtain more benefits than Will’s old flame had.

An insipid woman, terribly so. Even after passing through Hannibal’s seasoning.

Clarice had certainly developed her father’s practical sense, judging by her disposition of her intended items to assemble her own lure. Unfortunately a touch of Will’s aesthetic sense was present as well, Hannibal realized as she produced a bow of iridescent blue glitter and tufts of fur from each of the dogs. Beautiful butterfly wings, broken bone fragments, veined leaves were discarded by her personal taste, as they were too gloomy for a birthday.

Relenting, Hannibal swallowed his pride and sat the girl on his lap to guide her unsure steps, planning already to rectify her appreciation of the grim and the decadent.

“Pass me some hair please,” Clarice asked, tangling red wire and fretting over her ongoing composition. Hannibal acquiesced, frowning behind her shoulders. “Glue too, please.”

“Adding more material could prove the wrong choice,” Hannibal warned her. “No matter the amount of glue you’re willing to sacrifice, Clarice.”

She huffed, unnerved but undeterred. “I know what I’m doing,” she retorted, turning to eye him with her most convincing expression. Glue oozing from its container with little conviction. “Mostly,” she amended, returning her focus on their colorful ensemble.

“I’m sure you do,” Hannibal said. “I’m just offering suggestions.”

She turned again.

“You should dress less formally around Will,” she blunted. “It makes him uncomfortable,” she reproached. Hannibal sensed her incertitude, her distress. He didn’t relent.[…]

We both have been blessed with a fandom populated by talented, cruel writers, whose art can inflict as much pleasure as pain. I’m fascinated by the way the same author can move me to tears in both cases :) so to answer your question, I think I do have what you’re looking for, but before we begin, let me remind you to always. check. the. warnings. They are there for a reason and while I’m confidend you’re strong and ready, you may suffer a lot without even realising what’s happening if you don’t prepare yourself. Please, read responsibly.

A State of Constant Departure by @solitary-sister

Summary: Four years after the fall, Will leaves in hopes of growing into someone who can be with Hannibal.

Mature

Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Will Graham, Hannibal Lecter

This is admittedly more nostalgic than heart-destroying, but I personally think there’s more than one way you can interpret the sounds that lets you presume your heart is in pieces. It can crash, of course, but it can also be slowly suffocated under a pillow, just to be rescued at the last moment, before the bitter end. In this case, I’d say the blissful sufferance is not fatal, but a sweet indulgence for your appetite of sorrow and ache.

Carmen Cygni by @slineq

Summary: Will Graham and Beverly Katz are partners running a Private Investigator bureau. Will Graham’s reputation brings Agent Jack Crawford of the FBI to his door, seeking his professional touch in proving that Dr. Hannibal Lecter is the notorious Chesapeake Ripper. Apparently, that involves Will dating the man. Will is not thrilled, until he is. Then everything goes to hell in a handbasket.

Explicit

Graphic Depictions Of Violence

Will Graham, Hannibal Lecter, Beverly Katz, Jack Crawford, Bedelia Du Maurier, Franklyn Froideveaux, Will Graham’s Dogs

This is not strictly going to tear your heart with a powerful move, like other works in this list will, but instead slowly reap your hopes until you think you and Will Graham both didn’t deserve this. It’s a very efficient revisitation of the first season in an alternate universe where Will is a private investigator and Hannibal is partnered with him in the capture of the Chesapeake Ripper. To be fair, you won’t have to worry about not having a happy ending.

Each man kills the thing he loves by @mazephoenix

Summary: Hannibal Lecter killed Will Graham, everyone knows that. Clarice Starling finds out why.

Mature

Major Character Death

Hannibal Lecter, Clarice Starling, Will Graham

This is a very excruciating story from a very interesting writer, who has the tendency to write short stories that leaves you wonder what they could have done to you if they produced more. Hannibal has to announce Will’s death to the rest of the world and to undergo the most terrible sentence: to once again survive his beloved and to live longer than his dear ones, like Mischa before anyone else. Their tags are not particularly specific, so the research might take a while, but this writer produced other works on the same sad lines, if you’re willing to delve in.

Enlightenment by @luvkurai

Summary: Hannibal Lecter claims Will—and broadcasts it to the FBI.

Explicit

Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con

Hannibal Lecter, Will Graham, Jack Crawford, Brian Zeller, Beverly Katz

This work has a bit of the taste which I imagine the first works in this fandom shared. The thrill of Stockholm syndrome, so difficult to mask when you finish the first season and you want to see Hannibal and Will in a relationship. Fortunately we had the second to answer our necessities, but before we could enjoy that, I envision many writers creating works with this kind of atmosphere, where Hannibal is in control, Jack is powerless and Will is letting himself slowly transition from one man to the other, letting himself be controlled by a different manipulator. It’s a painful but necessary passage, an enlightening take on their twisted personalities.

Here With Me by @halotolerant

Summary: The little candles illuminating the bathroom are there because the power’s out. The scent of expensive perfume is because Hannibal can’t wash properly with the bandages still covering his healing wounds – or that’s what they’re saying, not that he won’t even begin to try - and his body odour has gone high and thick, past musk and into something rougher.

Teen And Up

Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Hannibal Lecter, Will Graham

This is another kind of heart-shaking altogether. It keeps you still, fearful to even move, because you perceive the danger and you know better than to escape. The atmosphere is almost lazy, if not for the evident uneasiness in the air. As a reader, you’ll experience here a deluded heart not from the perspective of the sorrowful one, not experiencing first-hand, but instead witnessing the misery of someone affected by such emotion. It certainly is an experience to behold.

Housekeeping by @metaphorgoneawry

Summary: Marriage is a creature living separate from its components. Yet it requires attention, tolerance and care. Have you seen it? Could you recognize its deep wounds - and which one of you inflicted them? And are they ready to heal? What do you really know about this illusory animal?

Explicit

No Archive Warnings Apply

Hannibal Lecter, Will Graham, Dr. Frederick Chilton, Kade Purnell, Beverly Katz, Jack Crawford, Bella Crawford, Brian Zeller, Jimmy Price, Freddie Lounds, Bedelia Du Maurier, Abel Gideon, Alana Bloom, Matthew Brown; Hannigraham, ChillyWilly

If you want to suffer, you can let this awesome writer tear your mind and soul apart with one of their works. One at random, they’re all valid alternatives. I arbitrarily choose this one because I always concentrate on Hannigraham works and this contains other interesting pairings as well, while still fundamentally remaining Hannigraham. This story treats the theme of conjugal infidelty with elegance and cruelty, in a small reality where marriage is maybe more important on a social status than it is in relationship to two persons loving and respecting each other. A work that makes you reflect on the true value of your everyday life, as you requested. I suggest you don’t seek salvation for your poor soul in other works of this author, once you finish this. I did and I lived to regret it.

if you will come all the way down with me by @coloredink

Summary: “This is important to me,” says Hannibal. “You will have to know how to do this, if we are to be together.”

Mature

Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death

Hannibal Lecter, Will Graham, Abigail Hobbs

This author uses the fanciful tag “Nothing is Beautiful and Everything Hurts,” which perfectly fulfills its task. You will cry so hard when you finish reading something tagged as such. But it’s ok, you’re here for this. In this very case, Will undergoes an interesting apprenticeship under Hannibal’s tutelage, which mostly envisions touching moments of intimacy and the experience of transforming something beautiful into something edible. An author I would recommend all-round, one of my favourites.

Je me souviens by @avegetariancannibal

Summary: If it meant keeping someone forever, how far would you go? How long would you live?

Explicit

Major Character Death

Hannibal Lecter, Will Graham

I have fat tears and wavering lips while I type, after having finished reading it again, so when I say this is a very sad and realistic story I’m probably being reductive. Hannibal has great faith in his memory palace and this story challenges its limits. You may have recognized this author for their previous works, very crack, very funny, very hot. If you read this, you’ll know they’re capable of all that and so much more.

Kiss Me, Liar… by @phenobarbitalfiction

Summary: Hannibal would never again let Will see him, because ultimately, his ability to forgive was finite and he was, intrinsically, sociopathic.

Explicit

Major Character Death

Hannibal Lecter, Will Graham, Jack Crawford

I started reading this without checking the tags and I certainly didn’t expect such a painfully plausible, vivid scenario, especially considering the other works of this very writer. And their personality. I was so shocked it took me some time to start speaking to them again, I’ll admit. This is short, compared to their normal wordcount, but heart-rendering none the same. Will and Hannibal have finally found their happiness far from Jack’s control, but if Will survived the fall, he didn’t his guilty feelings.

Mouth Guard by @cinnamaldeide​

Summary: There were technical devices to ensure the canine growth wouldn’t remain unnoticed in werecreatures and, specifically, werewolves. When their teeth would cyclical lengthen and sharpen, mouth guards were supposed to restrict them, as to give the nocturnal creature the chance to take precautions; one last glimmer of sanity before irredeemably losing control. Will Graham, at one point, lost his own.

Mature

No Archieve Warnings Apply

Hannibal Lecter, Will Graham, Jack Crawford, Alana Bloom, Will Graham’s Dogs, Abigail Hobbs, Donald Sutcliffe

Because what’s the fun if you can’t sneak a self-rec in your own long multiple rec post? When you asked for painful yet beautiful stories, I admittedly didn’t think about mine, but this one in particular has been considered not entirely far from depressing, so I guess you can try and see if this is something you can enjoy. Will becomes a werewolf and Hannibal seems eager to help him settle in his new exciting life.

Time Has Told Me by @zigzag-wanderer

Summary: This was kind of for Halloween? Kind of a vampire fic? Maybe?

Explicit

Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Hannibal Lecter, Will Graham, Jack Crawford, Alana Bloom

It would have been so hard to recover from this story if the ending hadn’t been so merciful, so sweet. An incredibly apt work for Halloween, it certainly gave me the chills. Of course, that didn’t stop me from reading, as it shouldn’t stop you. Hannibal has a mighty hunger, an unending crave, and only the suffering of other people seems to relieve it. Meeting Will is only slightly an improvement of the situation. You’ll love it, as you would the rest of this writer’s production.

Warrior by Becks

Summary: After the Minnesota Shrike, Will Graham needs someone to hold him together. Hannibal Lecter steps up for the job – with a few conditions.

Explicit

Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence

Hannibal Lecter, Will Graham, Jack Crawford

This work is part of a two-works serie, which in its ensemble could probably stand as the missing connection between the cruel beast that is Hannibal in the books and the aesthetical creature we learned to love in the show. It’s both and the same, and it doesn’t leave you bleeding on the floor, but with an unrecovering mind and no desire to live the rest of your days, which is arguably worse. If you can manage the first work, you should already be craving for the second in any case, but if you still hunger for angst even after that you should start on their incomplete amnesia fic and receive my compliments if you survive.

We, the Common by @thelongcon23

Summary: Hannibal has several trains of thought regarding Will Graham – launched at different velocity - with alternate destinations in mind, and the longer he knows the man the greater the underground network becomes. He starts to regret the first hasty departure (the set-up) but he can’t bring himself to derail it – he’s curious to see how it will end, where those wheels will take him. Humiliation, friendship, matters of family, self-preservation, deception, knowing, acceptance, they all overtake each other - even the black thunder of sadism - but one carriage is light and airy in its tireless journey, always set to Hannibal’s amusement. Come hunt me, he cajoles, watching Will on the podium. Come find me, if you can.

Explicit

Graphic Depictions Of Violence

Hannibal Lecter, Will Graham, Jack Crawford, Alana Bloom

This work is not here because it’s omegaverse. It is here because it utterly destroyed me in the best way, because sex is here not an instrument of pleasure, but a means to torture, to exert your power on a vulnerable creature, to bare yourself in turn and see your efforts wasted, to humiliate and to submit. Hannibal is an indomitable omega, as expected of him, and Will is at his mercy as much as Hannibal should be at Will’s. Fortunately for my mental sanity, and probably your own once you finish the first chapter, there’s a second one waiting for you to get back up on your feet.