#Frederick Francis

[st-just]

Elf Warrior by Frederick Francis

[diioonysus]

reading + art

[state-of-disorder]

Things canon in the Hannibal Lecter universe that I think will put the NBC fandom into a coma(/j)

Thomas Harris WHAT THE FUCK WHERE YOU THINKING

Hannibal

had 11 fingers

Gave himself plastic surgery several times

Has red eyes

Can smell cancer

Has a mommy and lactation kink

Name is actually Count Hannibal Lecter VIII

Ate his sisters remains

Tortured animals as a child

Will Graham

Quits his job and becomes an alcoholic

Gets abandoned by his wife and son

Is a misogynist

Francis Dolarhyde

Into age regression

His grandmother tried to cut his 🍆 off with a scissors

He wears his grandmothers teeth

Is described as a 'good boy'

Alana Bloom

Was originally a man called Alan

Freddie Lounds

Originally an annoying white man

Frederick Chilton

His hair colour is described as 'shit coloured'

Was a surgeon who killed a patient and switched to psychiatry

[wearemercs]

"Right now I'm free, so I have a slot for you." by Frederick Francis (FF69)

[rocktheholygrail]

3x11 || 3x12

[super-who-locked-me-in-here]

Back on my bullshit you guys 👍

*hands you more memes*

(fun fact there's also an item called "murderer's knot" lmao)

Bonus memes aka "this is how those scenes went right??"

And

[thedarkmongoose]

[bilgewater01]

terror boys official sex prowess chart

[cedarxwing]

Faust allusions in Hannibal

"I believe that Hannibal Lecter is as close as you can come to the devil, to Satan. He's the fallen angel. His motives are not banal reasons, like childhood abuse or junkie parents. It's in his genes. He finds life is most beautiful on the threshold to death, and that is something that is much closer to the fallen angel than it is to a psychopath." - Mads Mikkelsen on Hannibal as the Devil

I'm not a Faust expert or anything, but I've been balls deep in Wikipedia for the last week and here are my findings:

Super Short Summary of Faust:

Faust is an old scholar dissatisfied with life. One day Mephistopheles (the Devil) shows up and offers him a deal including unlimited knowledge and worldly pleasures. The particulars of the deal vary by version:

Original Faustbuch: Mephisto offers 24 years of service, and then Faust must serve him forever in hell.

Goethe: Mephisto will serve Faust until he experiences a moment of perfect satisfaction, after which he'll be dragged to hell. (Mephisto also makes a secondary bet with God that he can tempt Faust away from righteousness and into damnation.)

Gounod's opera: Mephisto turns Faust young again and wins him the beautiful Marguerite's heart. He also offers knowledge and power, but the story is more about Marguerite.

In most versions, Faust is damned to Hell at the end. In Goethe's version, Faust finds his moment of perfect satisfaction, but Mephisto doesn't succeed in tempting Faust into sin, so Faust ends up going to Heaven.

Explicit References

I won't list all the times the script refers to Hannibal as the Devil, but they're fun to look for. :)

The first explicit reference to Faust is in Sorbet (1x07), when Gounod's Le veau d'or plays while Hannibal gathers meat for his dinner party. This aria is Mephisto's manifesto on human nature:

"The calf of gold is the victor over the gods! In its derisory (absurde) glory, The abject monster insults heaven! It contemplates, oh weird frenzy! At his feet the human race, Hurling itself about, iron in hand, In blood and in the mire, Where gleams the burning metal, And satan leads the dance"

People are slaves to greed and easily tempted away from their morals--a nice description of Hannibal's perspective on humanity and his favorite pastime. I also like the implication that the rude people in his Rolodex are damned souls that he's come to reap.

This is a quote from Hannibal Rising when Hannibal watches Faust at the Opera Garnier with Lady Murasaki and the Paris Police Commissioner (which, wow, this chapter is practically Phantom of the Opera fanfiction). It's funny, because at that point in the novel, Hannibal is more Faust than Mephisto, so he's contemptuous of himself. Later, once he's undergone some, ahem, character development, the book quotes Goethe:

"I'd yield myself to the Devil instantly, Did it not happen that myself am he!"

This is probably the origin of the "Hannibal is the Devil" interpretation.

Also, I just want to point out that it's not particularly unique to be contemptuous of Gounod's Faust. He's a skeevy old man who fucks up his own life and everyone else's out of boredom, which is very human and relatable, but not very likable! We're all Fausts who are contemptuous of Faust, just like we're all rooting for Hannibal and contemptuous of Chilton.

Another quote from Goethe. Faust says this line while complaining that he has to choose between a simple/familiar/earthly life and a life unbound by earthly limitations (x). The double meaning of this line perfectly sums up Dolarhyde's predicament. He gave up a normal life to experience something otherworldly, and now he's fighting against the Red Dragon to save Reba.

This line also summarizes the temptation Hannibal dangles in front of Will. "Don't you crave change, Will?" A moment of perfect satisfaction, after which his soul will forever belong to Hannibal. This moment comes to pass when they kill Dolarhyde and go off the cliff, a metaphorical fall from Heaven (better explained here: x).

Not to get too lost in the weeds, but I would argue that killing Dolarhyde wasn't really a sin (maybe it was a sin to let those prison guards die, but killing Dolarhyde was self-defense and he was a serial killer for Pete's sake), so Hannibal lost his bet with God (Jack), and Will (Faust) is going to heaven after all, just like in Goethe's version. Maybe this idea would've been explored in Season 4, who knows.

Faustian Bargains

Once you strike a bargain with Hannibal, your soul belongs to him, and he can collect it at any time. The whole show is a series of people falling for this trap (except for Will, to Hannibal's never-ending frustration).

Some characters go to Hannibal seeking "otherworldly knowledge" while others are motivated by material greed. Gideon wants to know the Ripper and pays the price. Chilton and Sutcliffe commiserate with Hannibal in their medical malpractice and are punished accordingly. In Digestivo, Alana/Margot accept Hannibal's offer to take the fall for Mason's murder (and also get Mason's sperm) so they can inherit the Verger fortune.

The Faustian bargain motif is most apparent in Season 3, when Hannibal starts making characters explicitly ask for his help:

And, of course, the bargain Hannibal waited three seasons to strike:

Bedelia is the purest manifestation of this. She makes not one but two deals with Hannibal. The first was to help her get away with murder. The second was to take her "behind the veil" in Florence, where she acquires otherworldly knowledge and experiences. This is framed as "lucid greed" on her part, and maybe not just greed for knowledge, depending on how much she made off her lectures about being Lydia Fell! Hannibal spends Season 3a trying to get her to "participate" and makes some headway before his plans are derailed. She gets her come-uppance in the post-credits scene.

Finally, the most heartbreaking deal Hannibal makes:

Abigail's soul belongs to Hannibal as soon as she accepts this offer. In Mizumono, she willingly goes to her fate. :(

(Again, I'm not an expert, so if I got anything wrong please correct me!!)

[oglegost]

can i still kiss my girlfriend if she doesnt have lips anymore. does it hurt burned girlfriend to kiss her no lips? can i kiss chilton still

[willgrahamsbecoming]

[st-just]

Demon Slayer by Frederick Francis

[diioonysus]

creatures in art: mermaids & sirens

[aengusnatureking]

Frederick Chilton in Hannibal 3X12 part 7

[wearemercs]

Eldritch Knight by Frederick Francis (FF69)

[pomodoriart]

terror scribbles from the last couple of days!

crozier and hodgson are hard to draw. neptune is cutest and reigns supreme, of course.

when i found out that hodgson and des vouex were friends, i had to draw george bugging charles. i guess they wouldn’t have seen much of each other, since they were posted to different ships!

reblogs > likes. please do not repost or remove caption.

image descriptions:

1. bust doodles of francis crozier, james fitzjames, and neptune. all are looking and/or oriented to the right. they seem neutral-happy.

2. fitzjames petting neptune. text reads: ‘bored @ officer’s meeting, petting neptune’. neptune is a black shaggy dog with his head propped on fitzjame’s knee.

3. charles f. des vouex, looking annoyed and sticking his tongue out at the viewer. he is sitting, a book open on his lap. text reads: ‘Des Voeux acting his age’

4. hodgson, a blond balding man, leans over des voeux, who is seated on a box and holding a book. one of his legs is folded, while the other is stretched over a box. hodgson’s arm is thrown companionably over des voeux’s shoulder, grinning, while des voeux scowls and uses his free hand to push george hodgson out of his face. text reads: ‘Hodgson bothering des Voeux while he’s reading’.