Will Graham CoA Application

[hyperempathic]

→ OOC
□ Name: Cake
□ Age: 21+
□ Contact: AIM: miss.hbic
□ Journal: [Bad username or unknown identity: ”noblesseoblige”]
□ Do you play anyone in Ariel?: Loki | MCU | [Bad username or unknown identity: ”coldchaos”]

→ IC
□ Name: William Graham
□ Journal: [Bad username or unknown identity: ”hyperempathic”]
□ Series: NBC’s Hannibal
□ Canon point: End of episode 1x10: Buffet Froid
□ History: Please note that I am not using any of Will’s history from the Thomas Harris novel Red Dragon. The dates are completely different from the modern show and the history and personality diverge greatly.

Will’s history can be found here. You will note it is a bit sparse as very little has been given in show. Facts: Will’s mother died when he was very small, he has no memories of her. He and his father were not close and traveled constantly. As a marine diesel mechanic, Will’s father repaired boat engines large and small from the Louisiana bayou to Lake Erie and everywhere in between. He grew up lower class verging on poor, was always the new kid at school, always the outsider.

He was a homicide cop for a while, couldn’t pass the psych eval for the FBI, until he was stabbed in the shoulder. With a debilitating rotator cuff injury (debilitating in the sense he has to shoot from the Weaver stance because he cannot hold the Isosceles stance), Will retired from the force and used his gift of empathy, his ability to profile killers, in order to teach at the FBI academy. There is the sense that he has profiled for Jack before, but stopped for a while, but this is neither confirmed nor denied.

Alana Bloom has been a figure in his life for quite awhile, one he has wished to pursue a relationship with and it is not lost upon him that she avoids being alone in a room with him.

□ Personality: He is highly intelligent, it is shown throughout the show that he has more than just psychological insight and knowledge of abnormal psychology, but also knowledge of medicine (he called diabetic ketoacidosis and an insulin switch before the medical examiners caught onto it), philosophy (speaking of it in passing with Dr. Lecter during their talks of morality), and more hands on tasks of fly tying for fishing and repairing outboard boat motors.

There’s an eloquence to his words, at times almost bitter, and usually self deprecating. When he speaks of his past or of the fear of his own mental illness, there’s a distaste, almost as though the words are sour in his mouth. All Will has is his mind, and the thought of it betraying him is intolerable, something he doesn’t dwell on. When the possibility presents itself, he is certain that there is something else wrong, a tumor, a lesion, something organic that can be fixed. Even though that is the case (he is currently suffering from severe encephalitis), he is told otherwise and adamantly opposed to the diagnosis, finds it almost insulting. But these are for personal reasons, as said before. He has no problem with the mentally ill.

In fact, he shows great empathy for Georgia (episode 1x10), who is suffering from both an infection and a rare psychological condition which causes her to believe both that she’s dead and renders her unable to recognize faces. Will reassures her that she is alive, calls her by name and attempts to orient her to reality, an echo of the way Hannibal was previously orienting him.

Though Will avoids eye contact (“Eyes are distracting. You see too much. You don’t see enough”) almost pathologically. His glasses are like a shield between himself and others, he often positions the bridge of said glasses to block potential unwanted contact. Hides behind them. He doesn’t always conform to social niceties, though he tries, he simply doesn’t understand them, he doesn’t ‘get’ people. Though that is not because he doesn’t want to. Will wants contact, he wants a gap bridged. He tries this with Alana and is rebuffed (She knows he’s not good for her and she isn’t good for him), he almost tries with Abigail Hobbs (buying her a fly fishing set, wanting to teach her to fish as her father taught her to hunt), but in the end considers it a bad idea.

This is where the strays come in. Will, at this point, has six dogs. He begins with five and we are shown him finding a sixth wandering alone, out on the street at night. He lures it in with food, bathes it, takes care of it, settles it into the small pack he has. This is his family. This is his defense mechanism. He cares for those dogs, connects them with himself and each other, creates a family. Dogs are simple creatures with simple needs that Will can both understand and fulfill. The more alienated he becomes, the more dogs he picks up, it seems.

He physically alienates himself, in a way, too. Will live in the middle of the country, near a lake or a river (as shown by him fishing and bringing his catch back to his house), and enjoys taking nightly walks in his fields with his dogs. Will even tells Hannibal that he feels most at peace when he’s out in the field at night, alone, looking back at his little house, like a ship on the water. But he does engage, he seeks out Hannibal to talk to him when he has problems, he calls on both Jack and Alana. He reaches out, he simply isn’t good at it.

Will, at one point, says he would consider himself more on the Autism spectrum rather than a narcissist, but his social awkwardness is not autism and more in the vein of someone who is an introvert, experiences overwhelming empathy and grew up with no close social ties. This is how I intend to play him.

His empathy is what allows Will to construct a murder scene in his head, to visualize what the killer did, how he did it, the color of his hair, what he eats for breakfast, his pathologies, any and details large and small about the suspect. This, in my opinion, is one of the reasons why Will avoids eye contact, he doesn’t want to look into someone’s eyes that he likes, that he trusts and see a killer looking back at him. All people strangers are subject to mistrust and as Will knows he is fallible, he doesn’t wish to see a gruesome truth in the eyes of one who has become close to him, he has so few of those people.

He is not psychic, his empathy is not derived of literally getting into the person’s head, it is a complex understanding of pathologies, microexpressions, actions, reactions, all processed within a few seconds to form Will’s conclusions. They are not always right (Hannibal manages to escape his notice), they are often evolving, always adding more for the more information he gets, but nine times out of ten he’s correct in his evaluations of a person.

Will suffers night terrors, extreme diaphoresis and sleepwalking (when he does sleep). He has awakened to both sheets soaked with sweat (on a good night) or in the middle of a road (on a bad night). He suffers delusions of Garret Jacob Hobbs, even in the reconstructions he goes through in his mind at crime scenes. Will puts himself in the killer’s place and that ability seeps into his dreams and currently has him in his throes, Will can smell the blood, feel the knife part flesh, he becomes that killer in his reconstructions and his mind reminds him of that in his dreams and delusions.

Garret Jacob Hobbs is the first man Will has killed, the first case back working with the FBI as a profiler. He is tied together in blood and secrets with Abigail Hobbs (he keeps her secret of killing a man in self defense) and Hannibal (whom Will believes killed a serial killer in self defense, one that attacked Hannibal at Will’s fault). Deep down, he is a good man, but that core, that sense of self is slipping further and further as he makes compromises, as his mind and body begin to fail him. He is spiraling down and down (‘I lost time again’) and is helpless to do anything. He can see and feel himself becoming more unstable and can do nothing to stall the progression of it

Will cares deeply for Alana, he calls her when he hallucinates hearing noises in the wall, noises in the field, she comes. This is the first time they are alone together. Will confesses how he feels about her, kisses her, and she shuts him down. He isn’t good for her, he’s unstable, and she isn’t good for him, in turn. She would constantly be his paddle, constantly analyzing him, trying to fix him. That really isn’t healthy for either of him. And though he kisses her, though he pursues her after that one more time, there is a confused sense about it. But he does respect her wishes.

He respects Jack, even thinks him a friend, sitting with him when Jack finds out that his wife is dying of cancer. There’s tension between them at times, Jack feels responsible for Will, but pushes him because he is confident that Will can bounce back from anything, that even if Will feels unstable (‘My foundation is built on sand’), he can be solid for Will (‘I’m bedrock’). Jack is a bit blind in that respect, he trusts Will too much, especially since Will had the opportunity to quit, but did not.

Why didn’t Will quit? He feels responsible. No one can find serial killers like he can, even as broken as he is. There’s an obligation that comes with his ability, he can save people and thus he should save people. He even argues this point with Jack, even as he admits that he’s becoming more unstable.

Will’s overarching blind spot is obviously Hannibal. He doesn’t see Hannibal’s true nature, he doesn’t see that Hannibal is the Chesapeake Ripper. Why? Perhaps he doesn’t want to, subconsciously. Perhaps that’s why he doesn’t turn around and confront the raven feathered stag that stalks his dreams. Hannibal has offered himself as Will’s paddle, as a conspirator in keeping Abigail’s secret. He’s something of a friend to Will and Will has so few of those that his desire to keep that contact might be what helps skew his empathic ability where Hannibal is concerned.

□ Age: 37 (Using Hugh Dancy’s age since Will’s is not given)
□ Gender: Male
□ Appearance: Hugh Dancy. He’s medium height, medium build, strong jaw and sharp eyes. His hair is worn a little shaggy, a little curly, he often has stubble. Will’s in decent shape and often prefers plaid shirts and jeans, a bit of an outdoors look. He has strong, capable hands and wears glasses as a barrier for eye contact.
□ Abilities/Powers: Will has no unnatural abilities. He is highly intelligent, trained in police self defense, and firearms.
□ Personal Items:
-Wrist watch
-Tacklebox
-Fishing pole
-Outfit (Jeans, plaid shirt)
-Boots
-Jacket
-Outfit (Pants, shirt)
-Glasses
-Backpack
-Hunting Knife
□ First Person Sample:
[He’s looking into the mirror, eyes focused on his own nose rather than making eye contact with even himself and thus any watching will have the pleasure of nothing but the rim of his glasses should they attempt through the broadcast.

His knuckles are white where they grip the sink.] My name is Will Graham. It is - [He glances down at his watch- the hands of which are no longer ticking away the time. His eyes close and he barks out a laugh.] I don’t know what time it is. I don’t know where I am, but I suspect it’s Bethesda Naval Hospital. Maybe Johns Hopkins.

This isn’t real. This is- this is coping. I’ve locked myself up in here and my body is- my body is mostly likely tucked away in a padded room, swaddled in a straight jacket. Am I even really talking? Is my speech here coming out as incoherent babbling while Jack and Dr. Lecter watch, sadly shaking their heads. Poor, fragile Will. Jack’s teacup, fallen from the shelf and cracked.

[His head drops, a self deprecating smile twisting his mouth.] How do I get back. I have to get back.

□ Third Person Sample:
Third Person Sample