I've been making many comparisons between Hannibal (Series) and TDJ, so I need to know if you have ever watched Hannibal and if you also saw any similarity between the two or if I'm just going crazy 😞
I have watched it, yes! I binged it in a matter of days (several years ago now) and, BOY, was I loopy afterwards. I had to call a friend and legit go: "I have to talk to someone about something that isn't Hannibal because I feel like I am losing my mind a little."
(Which sounds corny but, uh, I have a tendency to sink really deep into the feelings and mindset of the characters I watch — not unlike Will Graham, hilariously enough (which is also why I'm so good at writing them, I guess?) — and that makes any show a bit of a journey but Hannibal even more so. It was NOT good for my mental stability x'D)
Anyway! Yes, I can see it, at least to some degree. There are definitely a couple of similarities but, in my opinion, honestly more differences, at least when you start looking at it a little deeper. For me personally, it's easier to compare Hannibal to a drama like Strangers From Hell than The Devil Judge.
Like, say what you will about Kang Yo Han and his habit of manipulation, gaslighting, and lying (which I do, very frequently) but it wasn't anywhere near Hannibal or Moon Jo levels of viciousness and depravity. Though I admit that's a very low bar.
Congratulations, Yo Han — you're less despicable than two cannibalistic serial killers.
That's not to say that what Yo Han did was good (he is, by definition, a mass murderer x'D), but the framing is completely different. Hannibal does it for the heck of it — to see what makes Will tick — and also because he wants Will to join him and become his other half, a.k.a. his murder husband. Meanwhile, Yo Han is looking for a useful accomplice to help him avenge his dead brother and, if he happens to get a husband out of it, that's just a bonus.
Hannibal does it for his own amusement and enjoyment, while Yo Han has a purpose behind his actions that's actually connected to his love for someone else. And while his actions DO hurt Ga On on more than one occasion, he's by no means as flippant about Ga On's life as Hannibal is about Will's.
Adding to that, Ga On was a lot more willing to be seduced than Will Graham, probably because Yo Han is by no means as wicked as Hannibal. He's got a lot of soft sides that Hannibal just... doesn't. Which alters the tone of their story and turns it into something quite different.
So yes, on the one hand, there are some similarities in the concept of an older, dangerous yet suave man trying to tempt a younger, idealistic man into committing crimes with them, but the lengths which they go to, the methods they use, and the motivation behind it are too different for more than a surface level comparison for me.
And that difference is honestly one of the reasons why I never wrote Hannibal fanfics. I was tempted, but I soon realised that Hannibal is too rigid. He's pretty one-dimensional in the long run and while the show does make a point out of showing that Will could change him at least a little bit, it's still too little to make him fun to write for me.
But, more importantly, when it comes to ships like these (i.e. the morally grey ones) it's never the dark one that will make or break it, but the other party. For me, a pairing like that only works if the softer/weaker/brighter/whatever you want to call it person is, on some level, in on it. And sure, Will does eventually end up being Down With Murder, but he didn't start out like that. He truly was a good guy at the beginning and the only reason why he ended up a murderer was through emotional and psychological osmosis — which he struggled against every step of the way until he eventually gave up.
Compare that to Ga On who, clearly, had a lot of darkness even before Yo Han showed up and pulled it to the forefront. Like, he dove headfirst into it after a while because he'd clearly been waiting for someone to tell him it was okay to do so — he wanted to come along for the ride Yo Han invited him on.
Or Jong Woo from Strangers From Hell, who had violence and anger-management issues long before he met Moon Jo and got pulled into becoming his murder husband. Or Pete from KinnPorsche, who clearly had a dangerous and kinky side long before Vegas showed up and... uh, made him embrace it?
Sometimes, it hinges more on the other person, is what I'm trying to say. And that can totally change the tone of the story being told. Like, while I am 100% certain that Hannibal loves Will in canon (or as much as he is able while being who he is) I can't say the same for Will. He's attached, sure, but love? Not sure. But what I am sure of is that Will would be better off without Hannibal. Without a doubt. Yeet him off a cliff (pun entirely intended). There's just too much violence between them and while it is fascinating to watch, I don't really want to see them as a couple xD
Yo Han and Ga On, on the other hand? There is genuine attachment between the two of them, and a genuine desire to see the other safe and happy. And while Yo Han definitely isn't the easiest person to live with — and much too vicious and dangerous for things to be entirely healthy between them — he does give Ga On something that, arguably, very few can, by embracing Ga On for who he is WITHOUT trying to change him. Like, the very core concept of their relationship is different from Hannibal and Will's.
Basically, while Hannibal turned Will into a killer to make them more compatible — sawing off the pieces of Will that didn't fit and tacking on new ones where he pleased — Yo Han and Ga On kind of fit from the beginning, because there was already a darkness in Ga On that called out to the darkness within Yo Han. They just have to figure out which way to approach each other for everything to fall into place but, once they do, the puzzle is easy to solve.
So, in essence, they're the opposite of Hannibal and Will. Will is forced to become someone else for him and Hannibal to work, while all Yo Han wants is for Ga On to accept and embrace who he truly is. Yo Han doesn't have to change Ga On for the two of them to work, they just need to love each other, flaws and all.
(which they do, in my subjective opinion)
... that became a lot longer rant than I had planned. I'm so sorry x'D
TLDR: Yes, there are some similarities but, on the whole, they're surface level in my opinion. Their dynamics at their cores are too different.
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it's been said before and i'm sure said better than i can phrase it. but really, really - if you like making "i'm going to kill myself" jokes, please try switching to being ironically conceited instead.
anytime something goes wrong, say things like "ah well at least i'm beautiful and charming and everyone loves me." when you forget something, try "my big huge brain is so smart and thinking about too many other very big wizardly thoughts you wouldn't even understand." when you're frustrated by one of your symptoms, start talking like you're in My Immortal. "Life has come for me but my eyes are beautiful pools of gorgeous fire and my hair is amazing. I stuck my middle finger up at life and told it to fuck off and it did."
just... try it for a month or two. try saying the most absurdly self-congratulatory shit you can think of.
i know it's tempting to make suicide or self-harm jokes. and for me at least, a decade ago (!) when someone suggested i stop making those kinds of jokes, i was kind of at a loss for what to replace them with. i wanted to make light of these moments, but genuinely (at the time) my first thought really was suicidal ideation. there was a part of me that even felt like ... i was kind of "making light" of that voice. that if i could say i want to die lol, it would help take the sting out of that genuine (albeit passive) desire. like i could turn my illness into a joke.
when i started complimenting myself instead, it felt awkward and stupid. it felt really, really ironic. what i was actually saying was nobody would ever think this stuff about me, that's what makes it so fucking funny.
but. the effect was immediate. first thing i noticed was the people around me. when i dropped a glass and said ah my skin is too beautiful and sleek the glass has swooned and broken for me, other people were suddenly overjoyed to jump in with the joke. rather than making an awkward moment, we'd both start cracking up. ah princess sleek hands, i've heard of you.
i was 19. i hadn't noticed i'd been making others tense when i said i want it all to end. i know now that it's incredibly hard to know how to walk that moment - do you talk to them about your concern? do you potentially make them uncomfortable by asking if they're okay? do you ignore the situation? do you help them pick up the glass, or do they need to do it by themselves? are they genuinely made suicidal over this small moment? and most importantly, how do you - without professional training or supplies - actually help?
most people want to help you pick up the glass in your life, they just have no fucking idea how to do it. they don't want to make anything worse. they don't want to make assumptions about you. they love you, they're scared for you - and being scared makes people kind of freeze up. it's not because they don't love you. it's because they do.
now when something bad happens, my first thought is how can i make a stupid joke about this. it isn't my brain saying you're a dumb fucking bitch. i spend more time laughing. i spend more time being gentle with myself. i spend more time feeling good.
and the thing is - what's kind of funny - is that you'd be surprised by how many people agree with you. the first time i said i'm too pretty to understand that, someone else said to be fair you're the prettiest person in this room. i promise - you really don't know how kindly your friends see you. but they love you for a reason. they sort of reverse-velveteen-rabbit you. your weird and ugly spots fade away and you just become... the love they want to give you.
go love yourself ironically. the worst thing that happens is that you end up tricking your reflection into actually loving you.
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