Hi! If you're new to the Hannibal fandom, and looking for a bit of a primer on the vs discourse, I'll be explaining the basics in this thread.

WARNING: Discussions of triggering topics to follow!

Part 1: What is a rainbow meatie?

Rainbow meaties, or people with on their profiles, are pro-shippers. In 2019, a Hannibal fanartist created an artwork for the #JustFuckMeUpFest, which deals with extreme kinks. The art was of Will and Winston, in a suggestive position that

is reminiscent of the Leda and the Swan painting that hangs in Hannibal's dining room. This art was leaked from the private, NSFW account that it was posted on and caused the artist to be harassed and threatened. She, and those who supported her, began using as a way to

signal to others that they were safe and would not harass or threaten people over the fanwork that they create or what they ship.

This is the core of the pro-ship position: anti-harassment and anti-bullying.

Pro-shippers believe that what people create or ship doesn't say anything about their moral worth as a person, and they don't deserve to get hate for it. This includes problematic and dark themes. Someone who ships Mason/Margot doesn't necessarily support incest in real life.

Someone who creates underage fanfic isn't necessarily a pedophile, nor do they condone pedophilia in real life. It's perfectly fine if these subjects are triggering or upsetting to you and you don't want to see them. We fully support everyone curating their own experiences.

All you need to be a is to believe that people don't deserve to be doxed, threatened, or bullied for their tastes in fictional content, because they don't reflect their moral worth.

Antis, or s, are anti-shippers.

Part 2: What is a ?

Anti-shippers believe that fiction has a direct, 1:1 affect on reality. They believe that it is just to attack people who ship or write about dynamics that they find harmful.

This includes bullying Wincest shippers for supporting incest, Hannigail shippers for being pedophiles, and Reylo shippers for condoning abuse. Their tactics and rhetoric are often very radfem/fascist in nature. You will see them calling people degnerates, freaks, etc.

Antis claim that shipping/portraying harmful things in fiction normalizes them and can romanticize bad situations. They argue that an age-gap ship or fic will make minors less likely to be wary of adults trying to take advantage of them, leading to their abuse.

They also believe that those who enjoy problematic things in fictional settings must also enjoy and condone them in real life, and that the existence of their content is harmful to survivors.

Part 3: Who is correct?

If you've been able to pick up on my phrasing, or you've looked at my account, you already know that I am a pro-shipper. I'm a trauma survivor myself, who copes using fictional content.

I'm not willing to detail my trauma history here, for fear of opening myself up to targeted harassment, but I've gone through a lot. And it is extremely hurtful to see people compare me to my abuser, or say that fictional stories are the same as my abuse and pain.

More than that, I don't think that anyone deserves to be bullied or harassed. I don't buy the argument that some people are fundamentally bad and deserve our hatred. People are complex, and even "bad" people deserve help to improve, not threats.

Please, if something on this site will trigger you or make you uncomfortable, avoid it. If my fanfics or ships bother you, block me. Mute me. Not because I hate you, but because I care about you as another human and want you to be safe and stable.

The minute someone stops exploring these subjects fictionally, where no one is hurt, and starts harming real-life people, you have no obligation to respect or support them. But up until that time, we shouldn't judge people when their actions are harmless.

Many survivors, such as me, are backed by our therapists in creating this work. Sexologists have studied fantasy and shown that those with taboo fantasies are not any more likely to commit sex crimes. If you believe anti rhetoric, I want you to look at who is being attacked.

Many times, it's queer people. It's women. It's neurodivergent people. It's POC.

If you believe anti rhetoric, look at what the older antis are saying.

Are they claiming something is CSEM and then sending it to you? Are they claiming other adults are bad but they are safe?

Someone who really cares about minors would never send them CSEM. No adult should be trying to position themselves as "safe" for kids on the internet. You're probably young and vulnerable, and they are preying on your vulnerabilities.

Please, stay safe.

Part 4: But someone said rainbow meat means you support incest, rape, and pedophilia?

I generally hate this argument, because I think that it's made in bad faith. But, for the sake of this thread, let's take it at face value and assume good intent.

If you truly believe that people MUST enjoy the things they like in fiction in real life, then your logical conclusion would be that people who enjoy non-con, incest kink, and underage fiction are okay with these irl So, you tell people rms support horrific things.

Make no mistake: rainbow meats are only supportive of people exploring these things in fiction, when they are tagged and can be avoided by those who don't want to see them. That's all that needs to be said.

Part 5: But what about the MAP?

*deep sigh*

Not too long ago, an open MAP (minor-attracted person) on this site put the emojis in their display name. This caused many antis to accuse us of supporting MAPs and welcoming them into our spaces.

This is not the case. Rainbow meaties immediately noticed this and began blocking the MAP.

No rainbow meaties were following the MAP. This is a claim some antis make, but in reality it was the MAP following rainbow meaties. That's two seperate things.

I don't want to entertain this too much, but know this: rainbow meaties immediately began blocking this person and calling them out, advising others who may not have seen to block them.

They aren't one of us, and now they no longer use those emojis.

End.

Part 6: What about the 12 y/o and 20 y/o tweet?

Okay, a Fannibal a few months ago made a post to make fun of antis. It talked about a 12 y/o Will and 20 y/o Hannibal falling in love, and a lot of people freaked out about this saying that the person who made the post was a pedo.

This post was INTENTIONALLY MADE to make fun of the antis. The situation itself is a reference to an old manga/anime, called Loveless. It was a play on an already existing ship dynamic, and it was specifically made to work antis up so that we knew who to block.

The person who made this post is NOT a MAP or a pedophile, despite what antis may say.

Before you condemn them for that one tweet, look at their other tweets and make a decision for yourself. One troll tweet doesn't give you everything you need to know about a person.

Part 7: Who is targeted by the antis?

The most common targets for harassment in the Hannibal fandom are @callmenephila, @FannibalJ, @grantairess, @actualadultJD, @Lokidottir3, @stratumgermani1, @whiskeyandspite, @CamilleCailloux, and often @BryanFuller himself.

However, EVERYONE is a potential target. We need to support each other and work as a community to keep ourselves safe.

This is going to be a living thread you can send to antis/newbies/neutrals. If any other situation/argument comes up that you want me to address, DM me!

Part 8: Why are you calling the antis fascists?

Because antis are an extension of fascist ideology, and many pro-shippers are tired of not calling it like we see it for fear of not being taken seriously. I'll give a synopsis here, but I could write a damn paper about this.

Even if you, an anti yourself, are not a fascist, someone in your circle is. You just aren't well-versed enough in fascist tactics to recognize them.

Again, look at who antis attack. Most of the time they will say they are attacking cishet white women. Look closer.

Nearly EVERY person I've seen antis attack has been queer, trans, neurodivergent, disabled, or a person of color. Many bi/pan and nonbinary creators have been reduced to being cishet. Which, as it happens, is a tactic of radfems! Another fascist group!

The first step is reducing multisexuals to either straight or gay, and people to either men or women, even if you still accept trans people. But, you start positioning those who throw off those labels as bad. And, well, everyone knows pedophilia is bad. Call them pedophiles.

You can also tell by the names they call us.

You should not trust ANYONE who uses, or associates with people who use, the term "degenerate" in an unironic way.

Degeneracy is a term that cannot be divorced from fascism. The meaning of it assumes that fascist ideology is correct.

Once you have everyone hating the "degenerates," you slowly expand who belongs in that group.

Instead of just people who make underage content, then it's incest content. Then it's Hannigram, because that's abusive. Then it's characters who are "sibling-coded" or "minor-coded."

You'll notice as time goes on that the group of people they include in the bad group will also expand. To trans people, then to other gay people. Fascists don't come out of the gate with their whole ideology. They pull people farther and farther in as they exclude more.

When your movement has roots in radfem "kink-critical" rhetoric, parrots right-wing talking points, has a distinctly conservative hyperfocus on pedophilia, suppresses artistic expression, reminisces about the "good old days" of fandom, is concerned with social degeneracy,

forbids you from even talking to or interacting with even slightly different views, has had numerous members outed as being alt-right plants, positions itself as "normal people" vs "the other," and is inherently contradictory... your movement may be fash-aligned, my dudes.

Part 9: But what if pedophiles find this work?

If any part of this thread is gonna get me canceled by both antis and pro-shippers, this is gonna be it.

To put it simply: I don't care. Let me explain a bit, though. Big CW for pedophilia/child sex exploitation following.

To give you a very base overview of my trauma, I've known actual pedophiles. I was in a "relationship" with one and one was a father figure in my life. Part of my own healing journey has been researching paraphilic disorders and trying to understand them.

I don't want to interact with pedophiles or MAPs. I don't want to be associated with them at all. But I don't despise them just for their feelings. That only comes if they actual hurt kids.

Quite frankly, we still aren't really sure what causes pedophilia.

It also seems to be incurable, though pedophiles should seek mental help to find coping strategies and reduce the risk of them offending. (Though, in fact, most offenders aren't actual pedophiles, because it's mostly about power and not actual attraction.)

If you create content and you don't want pedophiles/MAPs to interact with it, make that clear. But I'd rather have pedophiles consume drawn, lewd images of anime characters than CSEM featuring a child. I'd rather them read underage fanfic than hurt a real kid.

I don't think that them consuming this content will necessarily lead to them hurting real kids or consuming real child porn. In fact, there's some evidence that making this content available will reduce the risk of them offending.

I myself deal with urges harmful to other people. I want to kill my abuser.

But, I know that murder is bad. Even with how much I hate him, I don't want to be responsible for the grief his family might feel or the pain I may cause. How do I deal with this?

When the feelings got really intense, I wrote a fanfic about it. I wrote about Hannibal coaching me to kill him, like he did with Margot. And I wrote about me then murdering him with Hannibal's help.

It didn't increase my desire to commit murder. I felt relieved.

When the feelings get bad again, I re-read that fic. And it's cathartic. It helps me calm down and feel better. I don't think this would be different. However, if anyone has any ACTUAL STUDIES suggesting otherwise, I'm willing to have my mind changed should I see them.