Curious Fox 𓃦 · 9d
Hi,
I'm reaching out cuz I really value your perspectives, and this is a question I can't ask my fellow Fannibals cuz ofc I already know that we think alike. I'd love to hear from someone who has a different approach.
What are your views on cannibalism as a metaphor for love?
I think cannibalism itself is crazy, and it's nothing new. But there's something in the feeling of it, that need to get someone you love so impossibly close that you have to literally devour them, and even that still isn't close enough.
Thematically speaking, characters in these narratives are often deeply flawed, self hating, or struggle to accept themselves. In romantic relationships, this creates a desperate desire to be known and close, but without knowing how to do that without the fear of loss. Consumption becomes the ultimate form of unconditional acceptance.
And then there's that quote by Georges Bataille: "Kissing is the beginning of cannibalism."
I'd honestly love to know your take, but also, please feel free to ignore this entirely if it's uncomfortable.
Thank you either way, for your time and everything.
- MirrorCrush
Hey, MC~
This one had me thinking for a while, and I will admit I did look up "Fannibals." I never got into that fandom so I wasn't aware. So if my perspective happens to step on any toes, please do excuse me, it's just my opinion.
Cannibalism as a metaphor for love? Hm. In a way, I understand. Bataille is right with quote, and if we mirror the two.. our mouths are used to eat and declare. A kiss can do both, ha. But in a sense of healthy love, I do not find cannibalism relatable.
I think cannibalism works in horror as an exaggerated metaphor for intimacy, possession, and fear of loss. Again, not love in a healthy sense, but love pushed past the point where individuality and boundaries can survive.
What interests me about it thematically isn’t the violence itself so much as the psychology behind it. The idea that someone wants to be completely known, completely accepted, and permanently connected to another person. In stories, especially gothic or psychological horror, consumption becomes a warped attempt to achieve that permanence. ‘If I consume you, you can’t leave me; you become part of me.’
I also think these narratives are often about people who don’t know how to love safely. The hunger is emotional before it’s physical. A lot of these characters are terrified of abandonment, rejection, or separation, so intimacy becomes possessive, destructive, even sacramental.
So I don’t really see cannibalism in fiction as ‘love’ itself. I see it as love distorted by desperation, fear, control, or the inability to tolerate distance between self and other. It’s intimacy without boundaries, which is why it’s both compelling and terrifying.
I hope that answers your question, I kinda felt like I started getting a little too serious, haha.
~ Mia | JonetsuDN
